Who would have thought that a story about a professor of phonetics would result in it being probably one of the great shows ever for musical theatre? It’s a seemingly odd subject.
I don’t want to work on a musical if I’m not the lyricist.
We’ve got to find a way to protect the process of making musical theater.
‘Lakshmi’ is a dance film, a musical that deals with the emotional bond between the guru and his sishya.
I’m very influenced by landscapes, not so much the way places look as the way the names sound. In this country we’ve got so many cultures, and the place names – the Spanish names and the Indian names, which are so incredibly musical.
Think of a musical as a string of pearls. If you don’t have a string, you can’t put the pearls around your neck.
As an actor, you generally don’t get to choose what projects you are part of, so I’ve been very fortunate that ‘The Book of Mormon’ was something I got to be part of. I don’t want to be lofty, but it was groundbreaking, in many ways, for musical theater, so that was really thrilling to be part of.
I’m very interested in music, but I was not born musical. I honestly do think some people have the knack. I can’t play an instrument. I’m a terrible singer. I’m not about to launch my album!
I come from a musical kind of family.
I can’t even tolerate my own playing on electric keyboards. It’s not about the musical ideas – the sound itself is toxic. It’s like eating plastic broccoli.
No, I like being a role model because I know how much comfort my musical idols brought me.
I’ve always been a follower of silent movies. I see film as a visual medium with a musical accompaniment, and dialogue is a raft that goes on with it.
Soul has no musical geographical or racial boundaries.
I’m hoping to do more with my music. I did the stage musical ‘Spring Awakening’ recently and it reignited the love I have for singing.
I have thought about some kind of musical involving my music. That would be kind of interesting. I have thought of it in that way, as a creator of something, not so much a performer. So that’s in my head.
I sure lost my musical direction in Hollywood. My songs were the same conveyer belt mass production, just like most of my movies were.
It must have been an extraordinary time. I guess the worrying thing about musical theatre to me, is if you look at the London season this year, mine is actually the only one to have come in.
You know when you throw a party, you think people will show up and no one will like each other. It’s like that with music – parts of your musical psyche have never met other parts. You wonder if you should get them together.
But anyone who’s done a musical knows; whether you’re dancing or not, physically it’s the most difficult thing you can do.
I had no musical or athletic ability, and I wasn’t particularly good looking. Comedy was something I could do for attention.
I never learned to verbalize an abstract musical concept. No thank you. The whole point of being a serious musician is to avoid verbalization whenever you can.
Lyrics can’t do what they do – or should do – when you’re creating a musical with rock lyrics. There’s plenty of room for rock musicals, just not all rock musicals.
I was drawing before I did music, but me, I’m a dilettante. I jump into everything until I find one thing that I enjoy more than others. Rap was something that was always there because my brother used to rap – piano and musical instruments is something I learnt on the way.
As always in a musical collaboration: One has to like each other. As simple as that.
How do I put this? ‘Glee’ is like ‘High School Musical’ if ‘High School Musical’ had its stomach punched and its lunch money stolen.
I regard myself as a beautiful musical instrument, and my role is to contribute that instrument to scripts worthy of it.
I gladly accepted the commission but was uncertain about what the end result would be. On the one hand, Cuban music was conquering the world; being heard everywhere, and our small island was already producing one of the popular musical genres of the 20th century.
I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear.
I’m always working out; I did ice hockey in high school, but I’m not a dance person. I mean, this was horrible, but I had a dance double in my high-school musical.
But I mean, again, Zappa’s far more musical than the Bonzos ever were.
I have this weird musical thing I do: I play violin, and I even went on tour with Tim Robbins. We did a bunch of Canadian cities, and then went down to the States, and then we ended up in Japan.
My personal life, my musical life, my life as an artist – almost everything has pointed all these little arrows that make up which way I go as a person and what I feel comfortable as my identity.
In our culture we have such respect for musical instruments, they are like part of God.
A musical would be fantastic. The soundtrack would be great and I’d like to do acting.
Change is growth. For me it has been a very spiritual and musical rebirth.
Perhaps two million years ago the creatures of a planet in some remote galaxy faced a musical crisis similar to that which we earthly composers face today.
A lot of people ask me why I don’t expand and explore other musical areas, but I like the plain three- and four-chord rock-and-roll that I call the the semi-blues.
My brain knows how to learn musical theater dancing, but learning hip-hop? It was so hard for my body to understand how to move in that way.
I had to go and sing with the musical director of the film, Simon Lee, who is just incredible, and it went great. I sang with him about five things, things we’d worked on. And then I went to sing for Andrew Lloyd Weber.
I grew up listening to Steve Martin and Robin Williams, so I didn’t ever intend to be a musical comedian. I sort of stumbled into it.
I grew up in a very musical family, my father was a musician and a big band leader and made records.
Every musical scene has a cycle.
To my mind and ear, there is simply nothing that compares to the musical sophistication of a late Beethoven, Bartok, Schubert or Brahms work for minimal forces.
I’ve been chasing my music dream for a very long time and the acting dream just came up. But there are musical things I want to show the world, so that’s my next step.
You know, they were returning to the language of the people and trying to use musical language, particularly as Copland did to create a musical language in which all Americans would feel that they had a stake.
I had trouble fitting in, in a musical sense. A lot of drummers get sidetracked by the instrument. It can engulf you.
By the time I got to building synthesizers, I had perhaps 20 years’ experience building electronic musical instruments.
Without a doubt, my richest relationships are my long-term friendships with musical partners, because we make music together. That’s what we love to do with our lives.
I grew up in a musical family; the majority of my growing up was done in Hawaii. It’s what we do. You sing, you dance, you play ukulele and you drink.
Being a purely instrumental album, it makes a musical statement, not a religious one, and I hope that people can feel the emotion of the great melodies, even without the words.
There are so few directors who are musical who appreciate music.
A lot of people told me that I’m committing musical suicide with my sound.
Whether it be personal or musical, I just think I’m a walking art piece, just a ball of creativity.
We weren’t afraid to mix some crazy styles into the standard rockabilly look. We also took a lot of different musical influences that were part of that era.
Wherever your musical interest takes you, whether it’s just in your garage or in your shower, never forget why you started. Keep that first and foremost in your mind.
Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavours.
I’ve always played comedy. My background is musical comedy theatre, and that’s really where my training is.
I hope that I’m sexy in a different kind of way than I think that a lot of girls are right now. I think a lot of girls in the public eye, especially musical artists, are just kind of objectified a little bit and wearing super-skimpy outfits and leaving nothing to the imagination.
I’d like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words. I want to speak to their souls.
I know I have experience, having worked with the likes of legendary composers like Ilaiyaraaja. And, I’ve been long enough with my dear friend A. R. Rahman, and we’ve collaborated on several musical works. All this gives me confidence.
I’ve always been really artistic. I went to an all-girls’ private Catholic school, and one of their biggest things was musical theater. I became obsessed with that.
Musical types tend to combine the burden of the author with the burden of the actor.
Songs are out there – they’re waiting to be grabbed. I start with a phrase, musical and lyrical, words like ‘I don’t think so’ and a nice riff. It rolls from there.
I’d quite like to do a musical. I’d probably have to develop that myself.
