QUOTES: 12/16/14

DIAN PAULUS on MIKE NICHOLS in American Theatre

"Mike also quoted poets, philosophers, novelists, film directors. Bergman was a favorite; also the French author Andre Gide. I will never forget when he quoted Gide saying, “Please do not understand me too quickly,” and encouraged us to consider this in the context of not making assumptions about a character you are playing."



MICHAH STOCK in Backstage:

"You have to be as kind as you are bold and as bold as you are kind. I think a lot of young actors get caught up in how far away they are from what they want, as opposed to looking at what’s right in front of them. If I connect the dots between a tiny play I did Off-Off-Broadway and this, there are these really palpable connections. I did a play a year and a half ago, and an actor who I worked with gave me a good recommendation when they were going to give me the job in Terrence’s first play. And then I did that play Off-Broadway with Terrence and it went really well. And Jack O’Brien and Nathan Lane saw that play when not many people saw that play. So you have to look at the thing that’s in front of you and do it well and hope that people are going to see you. If you get too caught up with where you’re not, you’re never going to go anywhere. And make friends with writers. Find great writers and make them think you’re great even if you’re not, and they’ll take you along with them.”



Poet DEAN YOUNG in an open letter to his nephew:

"...you can't sustain inspiration, you can only court it, and here's the thing: it happens WHILE you work. It's not something to wait around for. You have to sweep the temple steps a lot in hopes that the god appears."