Oscar Hammerstein was a surrogate father. I liked my father a lot, he was a swell fellow, but I didn’t see him very often because my mother was bitter about him and did everything she could to prevent me from seeing him.

My main goal is to tell a story.

Musical comedies aren't written, they are rewritten.

By the time I was 22, I was a professional. A young and flawed professional, but not an amateur.

Perpetual anticipation is good for the soul but it's bad for the heart.

In not-for-profit theater, you don't worry so much about how the audience is going to react. You want to make them absorb the piece.

Take a play that you like but you think is flawed, and see if you can improve it and turn it into a musical. [...] Then make up your own story.