#we

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

— Stephen Sondheim

#by the time #flawed #i #professional #time

After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to just entertainments in between comedy scenes. ↗

— Stephen Sondheim

#became #between #comedy #entertainments #hammerstein

I played the organ when I went to military school, when I was 10. They had a huge organ, the second-largest pipe organ in New York State. I loved all the buttons and the gadgets. I've always been a gadget man. ↗

— Stephen Sondheim

#been #buttons #gadget #gadgets #had

One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music. ↗

— Stephen Sondheim

#between #difference #fade #into #live

Oscar Hammerstein was a surrogate father during all those many days, and weeks and months when I didn't see my own father. ↗

— Stephen Sondheim

#during #father #hammerstein #i #many

Most actors are either a shower of bloody scruffs or think they should dress like Hamlet off stage. ↗

— Martin Freeman

#dress #either #hamlet #like #most

When you know your cast well and their strengths and weaknesses, you can start writing for them, just the way Shakespeare wrote for his actors. ↗

— Stephen Sondheim

#his #just #know #shakespeare #start

Michael Jackson wanted to be in Men in Black II. He told me he had seen the first Men in Black in Paris and had stayed behind and sat there and wept. I had to explain to him that it was a comedy. ↗

— Barry Sonnenfeld

#black #comedy #explain #first #had

Michael worked one day. Everybody was a little freaked out and nervous because he's a really big star. We were already working with really big stars, but Michael is Michael. ↗

— Barry Sonnenfeld

#because #big #big star #day #everybody

The only interesting answers are those that destroy the questions. ↗

— Susan Sontag

#destroy #interesting #only #questions #those