The last collaborator is your audience ... when the audience comes in, it changes the temperature of what you've written. Things that seem to work well -- work in a sense of carry the story forward and be integral to the piece -- suddenly become a little less relevant or a little less functional or a little overlong or a little overweight or a little whatever. And so you start reshaping from an audience.

I'm a lazy writer. My idea of heaven is not writing. On the other hand, I'm obviously compulsive about it.

You're so nice. You're not good, you're not bad, You're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the witch. You're the world.

Everyone I used to play with has either given up or is dead.

So many good songs get written fast, because you know exactly what has to work.

If you're dealing with a musical in which you're trying to tell a story, it's got to sound like speech. At the same time it's got to be a song.

Swing your razor wide! Sweeney, hold it to the skies!