I think anything that is expressed directly and as honestly as possible will last.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
We don't have access to a national forum that we had in those days, through the news magazines which were the television news of the time. It's very disturbing to me that we've sort of been pushed to the corners.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
Like any other composer of opera, I choose a subject not for polemical reasons, but because it contains vivid characters in highly charged dramatic situations.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
I find it enormously valuable to be sure that that the pacing is what I think it is and that the scenes have the shape I think they have musically and dramatically.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
It's amazing how fast generations lose sight of other generations. One of the first things the young composers who come to work with me say is that they want to write music people will like, instead of gaining their credentials by being rejected by the audience.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
People in very high places suddenly fall, and we are always surprised because we don't factor in the basic element that they're humans and, therefore, they are flawed and have weaknesses.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
The story of Willie Stark fascinated me because it was tackling the story of a man who outwardly has all the success one could possibly want and who is destroyed by his personal demons.
Copied to Clipboard
Copied to Clipboard
You can't possibly predict what will last or not. But once you attempt to write for the ages, you're doomed.