I grew up with "Follies." I saw it when I was fifteen. It was the original production, and of course, that production will never be equaled.

There's a real fantasy quotient to my work. Any play that I've written for myself to perform in basically begins with the idea, "Wouldn't it be fun to be, say, Jean Harlow in a pre-code movie?"

I wish somebody would just give me a couple of million dollars a year, so that I could do a play based on every little fantasy I have.

I was very briefly under contract to Disney Animation, to develop ideas for animated features. They don't like you to use the word "cartoon" around there.

I'm writing the book to a children's musical. I got a note from the producers saying, "Can't you make it campier?" So now, I'm trying to determine the camp sensibility of the average eight year old.

I always tend to say "no" to everything, but now I've decided to say "yes" to everything. Now, I'm doing all sorts of things that I would've said "no" to before.

It's more interesting to put yourself in the place of Bette Davis than Irene Dunne, I guess.

I don't think I could ever go to Auschwitz, because when we took that tour of MGM, I nearly collapsed outside the Thalberg building.

I saw "Follies" again at thirty, and you know, I had this great appreciation for [Stephen] Sondheim's brilliance, his lyrics.

At fifteen, it [ "Follies"] didn't have any kind of resonance with me, this show about regret and middle age.

I stole that from Vito Russo. He said he was a devout believer in Judyism.

You have to open up to the world and learn optimism...Contentment with the past, happiness with the present, and hope for the future. Learned optimisim.

Hate is the consequence of fear; we fear something before we hate; a child who fears noises becomes the man who hates them.

If we sip the wine, we find dreams coming upon us out of the imminent night

You're not useful to me until you've made three momentous mistakes.

The absence of plot leaves the reader room to think about other things.

'Let's Get It On' is a classic Motown single, endlessly repeatable and always enjoyable.

The devil makes small sins seem smaller in our eyes, for otherwise he can't lead us to greater evil.

It is in the darkest night that the light we are shines brightest

To me, the movie is about power.

Whoever wishes to go down a long path, must learn that the first lesson is to overcome early disappointments.