Jayne Houdyshell and I - when I was 17 years old - did summer stock together at the Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll, IL. She was the leading lady of the company, and I was an intern.
I think, as written, 'Assassins' simply acknowledges the very human need to be acknowledged. As director, I've got to put aside any particular biases or prejudices that, as a moral human being, this is not an appropriate or acceptable way to get what you want.
There are plenty of other actors who are wonderful that just don't work in a way that I work, or our methods aren't necessarily compatible. But then there are those you instinctually just are drawn to.
I think the audiences in Chicago are really open. They're engaged and eager, and they don't feel cynical to me. Sometimes in New York, there's a sense of, 'Prove it to me; prove this is worth my time.' I never felt that in Chicago.
My first real job as a director was working with Robbie Baitz on his play 'Three Hotels.' It was an incredible collaboration.
I don't think of gay writers. I mean if you were to say to me who are the straight writers, well, you wouldn't ask me that question. So for me to identify a little tribe of gay writers, I don't know.
I have a responsibility to diversity onstage, but one of the things I've heard about our production of 'Boys' is that it's a bunch of white guys. Well, race is a component of this play. You can't just drop people in willy-nilly and say, 'Well, we're going for diversity.'
I do not resent Sarah Jessica Parker. We've been friends for decades. I just do not like what 'Sex and the City' did to my neighborhood.
One of my favorite experiences was '9 to 5,' for one reason: Dolly Parton. I learned what it means to really work hard and do it with a sense of humor about yourself. Every day was joyful.
I was always the person in our class who was fascinated by new plays. I would go to the library all the time as new plays would come out.
Theater isn't there to provide answers. Only possibilities. I just ask the questions. But I believe hope comes from the fact that there is a potential for redemption. At the core, that's what matters in the theater I'm attracted to. Do we dare to hope? Do we allow ourselves to hope?
I think good actors - good, collaborative actors who see themselves as leaders in a given production - can and should offer ideas that have nothing to do with wanting to direct themselves.
I was a member of Circle Rep; I had done a little bit of directing there. I remember that I had a vacation from 'Angels', in which I remounted a play that I had done out of town called 'Three Hotels.' That's how I spent my week vacation.
I get to be in a room with other actors, but I never, or very rarely, get the chance to be in a room with another director.
I'm comfortable with bad news. I feel confident in my ability to solve the problem if I know that there's a problem.