Musical Theater Quotes & Sayings

I went to performing arts high school, and I took dance and acting every day. Then, I went to Marymount Manhattan College and I have a B.A. in acting, with a concentration in theater performance and a minor in musical theater. I studied there for three years. — Jenna Ushkowitz

I would love to have a varied career, like Hugh Jackman. He started in musical theater, then established himself in film, but he still does a lot of stage work. And he does it all beautifully. — Samantha Barks

It's funny ... musical theater is what paid my rent and kept me going for the longest time. — Bryan Batt

In terms of theater itself, no story is too strange or method of telling it too impossible these days. In many ways, musical theater has caught up with straight theater in that it's allowed more surreality and breaking of form, and that's really exciting to me - the challenge is getting people to produce those shows. — Nick Blaemire

I think of the Roundabout as my musical theater family here in New York City. — Jane Krakowski

I graduated with a degree in musical theater and no skill in anything else to make money; I wish I had gotten a massage therapy kit or something where I could have made my own money. — Kathleen Rose Perkins

I've always been really artistic. I went to an all-girls private Catholic school, and one of their biggest things was musical theater. — Daniela Bobadilla

I was there when the quote-unquote golden age of musical theater was flourishing. I met everybody who worked in theater or was famous in theater from the '40s on. — Harold Prince

My whole background, my whole life was just lots and lots of theater, a lot of that being musical theater. — Zachary Levi

Hillary Clinton said that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is engaged in 'theater.' Which explains the new strategy to defeat him: casting him as the lead in 'Spider-Man: the Musical.' — Jimmy Fallon

In many ways, I think I'm a good person for it. I mean, I'm not a musical theater dude. Or rather, I don't watch everything, and love everything, and have every album. The ones that I love - like I've seen The Wizard of Oz a hundred times. West Side Story I love. I love Singing in the Rain, I love White Christmas. I love the Dennis Potter ones like Singing Detective and Pennies from Heaven. I love Sondheim. — James Ponsoldt

I went through a few phases of finding myself: I dabbled in musical theater, chess club, dance troupe, splatter-painting, school mascot (go Wildcats), babysitter, photojournalist, drill team girl, emo kid - and not one of them defined me, but every single one will always play a part in who I am. — Debby Ryan

I love singing! I grew up in musical theater. — Juliette Goglia

The first few weeks of school were always surreal, like you landed on an alien planet with strange teachers and unfamiliar classrooms, even though the lockers and cafeteria seemed familiar. — S.M. Stevens

Sondheim is the Shakespeare of the musical theater world. — Mandy Patinkin

I double majored in English education and theater with a musical theater minor. Teaching is the only thing that makes me as happy as performing. — Rob McClure

I'm a musical theater guy. That's where I came from. That's where I go whenever I have the chance. It's my first love. — Scott Bakula

I do regret that when I went to college, I didn't have a liberal arts education. I got a BFA in musical theater, so it was a very directed toward what I was doing. I wish that I had expanded my horizons a little bit. — Heather Dubrow

One of the reasons I got into musical theater was Anthony Warlow. I was obsessed with the 'Jekyll and Hyde' concept album because of him. — Rob McClure

In 1969, I wrote a musical called 'Mother Earth.' It was a rock musical with an ecology theme. We did it at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Southern California where I was a member. It was a smash hit in this small theater. — Toni Tennille

You know, like, there's songs like "Valerie" and "Bang Bang Bang" that I was so proud of. And, you know, the level of success that they had - if they were little cult hits meant that, you know, I could sellout Webster Hall or Williamsburg Musical Hall or the El Rey theater in LA. Like, that was having made it to me. So the thought of having a number one song in my own career, like, never even registered. — Mark Ronson

Music is rhythm, and all theater is rhythm. It's about tempo and change and pulse, whether you're doing a verse play by Shakespeare or a musical. — Diane Paulus

I was a professional ballerina. After becoming an actress, I did a lot of theater, which included musical theater. The first musical play I did was Murray Schisgal's 'The Pushcart Peddlers.' — Juliet Landau

I do think musical-theater actors can get a bad rap, and I see why. There is a certain slickness - there's nothing better than an amazing musical, but an okay musical can be one of the worst times you've ever had. — Laura Benanti

We've got to find a way to protect the process of making musical theater. — Harold Prince

I would love to be in musical theater and be on Broadway. If someone were to offer me a position to do something like that, I wouldnt pass it down. Im a huge fan of musicals and I really want to do that. — Michelle Branch

I'm not into music - the only music I like is musical theater, but I have every Ween album. — Jesse Eisenberg

I've loved musical theater ever since I was a kid. My mother's a pianist, and my grandfather was an amateur theater director and stand-up comic. And I was an only child. And I loved attention. So from an early age, my family was teaching old musical songs. — Rachel Bloom

Musical theater is great; you get painted up, you get to play princesses and witches, and you sing. The joy alone of that can really carry a lot. — Chris Pine

When I first moved to New York, all I did was musical theater. That's what I studied at Carnegie Mellon University. — Tamara Tunie

By 1950, Brennan was settling into a schedule that saw him making three films a year, giving him more time on his ranch and with a new business he started in Joseph, a 487-seat movie theater that opened on July 27, 1950. It was housed in a Quonset hut made out of surplus war materials also used to build the civic center. "The reason he got the theater built," Mike recalled, "was because the civic center was the same size, and they [Frank McCully and Walter] got the chance to buy two of them for half the price." At the theater's grand opening, actors Chill Wills and Forrest Tucker said a few words and signed autographs, and Joseph's mayor and other local dignitaries attended the event. A La Grande radio station broadcast the event. Curtain Call at Cactus Creek was the feature, following a musical short with the Nat King Cole trio. — Carl Rollyson

I would love to do a big-budget movie musical - I feel like there is one big musical movie a year. And I'm always there at the theater to see them - I love them. — Autumn Reeser

We thought it would be great to see if you could put pop music back into musical theater. — Neil Tennant

Broadway has changed tremendously from the early days when the shows were referred to as musical comedies. Musical Theater is now a more expanded art form. Back then, singer/actors were not the norm. From the 60's to now, it is necessary to do it all to be a consummate Broadway performer. — Betty Buckley

I'm doing a play, a musical. The musical follows the Mamma Mia concept. It's my first LA theater project. — Tatyana Ali

People don't realize that I started in musical theater. That's where my roots are. — Katee Sackhoff

I would like, if I can, to broaden the possibilities of the musical theater. I think there's a better 'Oklahoma!' someplace, a better 'West Side Story.' And I'd like to be mixed up in it. — Richard Rodgers

I did a lot of musical theater when I was younger, and I really hope to get back there someday. I miss singing a lot. I listen to Broadway show tunes in my car and sing along to them. — Bridget Regan

I was really sporty and loved singing. I started off doing musical theater. I left university to go to drama school. So I was a bit of a black sheep. — Sophie Cookson

I've always been singing. Since day one. I started doing musical theater and you have to sing in musical theater and so that's where I got most of my training. So singing on stage, you just inevitably, when you're around other vocal artists, you get better at singing. — Zac Efron

Doing a musical is not just acting. It's total theater. When you have to justify the enormous projection of energy it takes to just go into song and dance, you realized why it's such a humbling experience every time you go into a show. — Donna McKechnie

I've found that musical theater is my passion. — Samantha Barks

I wasn't a trained actor, I was trained in musical comedy theater, and when you do that, the audience is completely part of the thing. It's like Elizabethan theater. You play the scene, and then you turn - the audience is part of it. — Christopher Walken

I have been taking voice and singing lessons since age 10 and originally got into it because I was really interested in musical theater. After writing my first couple of songs and performing at age 14, I knew that I really wanted to be a singer. — Daya

I was heavily involved in musical theater. — Brad Goreski

I've always been interested in music. In high school, I did a lot of musical theater, and I loved it. — Rosanna Pansino

Without a doubt, I'd love to do Broadway. I actually can't wait to get back to musical theater. — Zac Efron

I'm trying to bring a new generation into the musical theater and to create a new audience. — Jerry Herman

I know about lots of things that have nothing to do with being Asian, that you would never guess from looking at me. I know all about musical theater. I could go on 'Jeopardy!' and knock off the whole Broadway show tunes category. Also the whole Bible stories category. — B. D. Wong

If there is a Busta Rhymes of musical theater, it probably is Mandy Patinkin. — Lin-Manuel Miranda

I always wanted to make an album, but I knew that I didn't want it to be a musical theater album. It's not that I don't love them - I own every musical theater album ever made - but it just didn't seem right for me. — Megan Hilty

I'm not shutting doors on myself, in any way, within theater, musical theater, TV and film. — Lara Pulver

I had a teacher senior year in high school. He was a theater teacher, and he basically was a little bit like 'High School Musical.' He kind of encouraged the jocks to get involved with the plays. I did it as kind of a senior year lark. — D. B. Sweeney

I love rock and opera, and I love musical theater, and I don't want to lose any of that. — Lauren Worsham

People say, 'What are your hobbies?' I say, 'I've been doing shows ever since I was a kid.' When I left college, all I wanted to be was a musical theater chick. I auditioned tons. It just didn't pan out. — Stephanie Courtney

So, through all that early professional career I would occasionally do a musical, a pantomime or a play with songs. The next stop would be a Shakespeare, or an Ibsen, or a play by a brand new writer who had never done anything in the theater before. — Trevor Nunn

You have two kinds of shows on Broadway - revivals and the same kind of musicals over and over again, all spectacles. You get your tickets for 'The Lion King' a year in advance, and essentially a family comes as if to a picnic, and they pass on to their children the idea that that's what the theater is - a spectacular musical you see once a year, a stage version of a movie. It has nothing to do with theater at all. It has to do with seeing what is familiar. We live in a recycled culture. — Stephen Sondheim

I teach musical theater three days a week at the school that my wife and I graduated from. — Drew Lachey

I grew up listening to a lot of player-piano music in my house and a lot of old Tin Pan Alley songs and American standards. My dad listened to a lot of traditional Irish music and I grew up doing musical theater. So most of the music I was exposed to as a kid was pre-rock n' roll. — John C. Reilly

But you know, I'm not 25 anymore, and I have always said musical theater in particular is a young person's game. It requires energy, mentally and physically, to do it. — Elaine Paige

I come from musical theater, and a lot of musical theater is about accepting fantasy. I think it is more about just being open and accepting. — Amy Adams

I was a 'Glee' fan before I joined the show! Since my background is musical theater, it was exciting to see a TV show that incorporated music so much and in such a genius way. — Becca Tobin

The truth is I love musical theater and always have. — Idina Menzel

People who are feeling bullied and people who feel like outsiders should talk to their parents and guardians about finding a place with likeminded people where they can feel accepted. That's what I needed, and that's what I found with musical theater. — Nick Jonas

It's interesting - years ago, I had such bad stage fright during musical theater auditions that I just gave up. And now I'm on Broadway. — Tom Lenk

I definitely wasn't cool in high school. I really wasn't. I did belong to many of the clubs and was in leadership on yearbook and did the musical theater route, so I had friends in all areas. But I certainly did not know what to wear, did not know how to do my hair, all those things. — Dianna Agron

I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the theater the minute I graduated from college having not pursued it! So I went back to school and got a degree in music and began working in musical theater. — Nancy Allen

I'm a weird dichotomy of nerd, sports fan, and musical theater, so I'd love to do a superhero musical on Broadway. But all the good superheroes are claimed. — Taran Killam

I got started as an actress doing musical theater, and I always loved 'Grease' and 'West Side Story,' and all those kind of movies. — Sara Paxton

I started in theatre. I went to the Boston Conservatory and majored in musical theater. — Rachael MacFarlane

It's always been a dream of mine to do a voice for a Disney movie. I think Disney movies and theater are very closely related. That would be amazing. I don't know about doing a Broadway musical, just because I don't really know how people do it. You just work all the time. That's something that I would definitely have to work up to. — Alexa Ray Joel

At one time musical theater, particularly in the '40s and '50s, was a big source of pop songs. That's how musical theater started, really - it was just a way of linking several pop songs for the stage. — Neil Tennant

The C+ amps is vintage at this point, and it definitely has a certain sound to it. I wanted something that was going to keep Dream Theater in more of a current musical landscape, as far as being the producer and producing the type of album I wanted to hear. — John Petrucci

From a young age, I had done a lot of theater and musical theater. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my life, but every time I was away from acting, I just felt very incomplete and a little stir crazy. — Alexander Koch

I got successful awfully quick, and I wanted it ... But I do think there is responsibility to move the musical theater form forward. I think you always have to be aware of the work that came before and build on that. — Harold Prince

Because I was a dancer, I started going to auditions for musical theater, which forced me to sing. — Madonna Ciccone

At one point, I was hell-bent on being a Disney animator, and sort of got over that in college and wanted to do my own stuff. You know, towards the end of college I had actually planned to go to the Boston Conservatory of Music for musical theater. — Seth MacFarlane

Up until I started on YouTube, my first love was musical theater. — Sam Tsui

All I listened to until age 18 growing up was musical theater. I liked the escapism of it. — Rachel Bloom

I've learned that in the theater the story is everything. Every lyric, every line and every musical gesture has to propel the journey of a given character or the overall plot. — Trey Anastasio

I think musical theater fans - obsessive fans - are very much like Comic Con fans in our personalities. We're very possessive, and we're very obsessive, and we're very critical. So don't screw with our stuff. — Richard LaGravenese

That whole world of musical theater was my first love. It's where I wanted to be when I was three years old. — Debra Messing

A musical, like most religions, provides the audience or followers with a sense of belonging. Religious services, on the other hand, with their staged performances, invigorating songs, popular wisdom and shared experience, are almost a form of community theater. — Lisa Randall

I love musical theater so much. When done right, I think comedy songs can be the most efficient form of joke delivery. Songs can be the most efficient and the best forms of conveying emotion. Music is universal. It's worldwide. — Rachel Bloom

Singing is more of a hobby than really something I want to do for a career. But I love musical theater, so I'm hoping I can go back to it and do a role on Broadway for a few weeks. That would be a dream come true. My dream role would be Roxie in 'Chicago.' — Jillian Rose Reed

Back when I was in theater school, trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life, 'Sweeney Todd' was a huge touchstone for me, my favorite musical for sure. — Eric McCormack

When a show ends, for a few days, my body sizzles with leftover energy, like a tree in the wake of a lightning strike. — S.M. Stevens

I did a lot of theater growing up, and in college I was in the musical 'Chicago.' — Sarah Shahi

Destroyed, that is, were not only men, women and thousands of children but also restaurants and inns, laundries, theater groups, sports clubs, sewing clubs, boys' clubs, girls' clubs, love affairs, trees and gardens, grass, gates, gravestones, temples and shrines, family heirlooms, radios, classmates, books, courts of law, clothes, pets, groceries and markets, telephones, personal letters, automobiles, bicycles, horses - 120 war-horses - musical instruments, medicines and medical equipment, life savings, eyeglasses, city records, sidewalks, family scrapbooks, monuments, engagements, marriages, employees, clocks and watches, public transportation, street signs, parents, works of art. "The whole of society," concludes the Japanese study, "was laid waste to its very foundations."2698 Lifton's history professor saw not even foundations left. "Such a weapon," he told the American psychiatrist, "has the power to make everything into nothing. — Richard Rhodes

I started out really into musical theater. So you can imagine I was super popular. I wasn't awkward looking at all. — Allison Williams

I love singing! I was a musical theater girl in high school. We were always singing and dancing around, and just doing little community theaters and high school musicals. Then, when I got to NYU, I focused more on drama. — Katie Lowes

I've been very fortunate. I've been in theater, films, television, radio, tragedy, comedy, farce - I've been in a musical and in music halls, in pantomime. I was once ringmaster in a circus. — Donald Sinden

She spent her idle time conceiving of musicals that would never be. It was the only medium that could properly express our true madness and hypocrisy---our collective ability to sit in a theater watching lunatics sing nonsense while the world outside burns. — Dave Eggers

We went to see all the shows. American musical theater and jazz were very big. — Carly Simon

While I love musical theater, it wasn't the right fit for me. It's so competitive, and I was at such a disadvantage, having started performing when I was 17. — Jack Falahee

I came from a really musical family. I studied classical piano because my grandparents were piano teachers, but started doing musical theater at age nine in Fresno, California, and went to a performing arts high school. That was my life. — Audra McDonald

The way I see the job, my definition of it, is to create characters to the best of your ability and then fit into what's trying to be accomplished in the general framework of the film. I think that's whether you're doing this- even if you're doing musical theater. That's what I think an actors job is. I don't know. I like to think what an actors job is is to create characters. — Anton Yelchin

I love music, singing, and playing piano (though I'm not very good). And I adore musical theater. — Aprilynne Pike

Musicals are my favorite. I'm a musical theater buff. — Rutina Wesley

Musical theater can save you, even if only for two or three hours at a time. — Michelle Knudsen