Lee Hall Quotes

When it comes to writing musicals, you write the best piece you can. Then, its destiny is in the hands of the actors and the director.

I'm preparing for a multimedia theater piece, Airport Music, that's coming up in New York City.

Acting is a strange job because your control is very limited.

I think film and television are really a director's medium, whereas theatre is the actor's medium.

There is so much freedom I enjoy in theatre. In films, the roles are limited.

For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence.

Making a film or doing a play are completely different experiences and entirely fulfilling, but completely unique. I also think one complements the other. People often say that theater is about flexing your muscles, and is actually real acting, whereas I sort of disagree.

I love writing plays because they are living, fluid things that are energised by the producer, designers, musicians, actors and audience.

Well, in the theater, I think you're actually more responsible for what is going on onstage as a director than you are in film.

With a play, there's more of a definable arc because of the nature of theater: You know, there's no editing, so there's something more natural about the arc a character follows in a play. I think theater is more an actor's medium, whereas film is more a director's medium, because that's who controls the final feel of the film.

Some of the roles that are challenging are more in theater and TV. In movies, there's a tendency to cast actors in roles that have been successful for them. It has to pay for itself.

In theater, they say a theater piece is only as good as its transitions.

When you're doing a legitimate play, if you have a company of 12, it's considered a big cast.

Actors can be many things - vain, venal, self-serving, obnoxious, bullies - but all of the good ones are great storytellers.

Compared to film or television, theater is more interactive, collaborative.

I love the interactive nature of theater. I just craved it. As much as I love working on a film or TV set, most of the storytelling happens in the editing, whereas when you're doing a play, the storytelling is in your hands as an actor.

I like ensemble shows.

The cool thing about doing a play is that the final interpretation of a piece is turned over to the actors.

Writing a play to get to Broadway and have a national tour is a sure way to write a terrible, terrible play.

It's strange not to allow the actor some input and breathing room into what was written on the page - it is their job to make it come alive.

The great thing about theatre is that the performance develops over the run - it changes each time.

As an artist, you're thankful to get a shot at a story more than once, because it doesn't happen all the time. Whether you talk about 'Hamlet' or 'Death of a Salesman,' you always want to see what the next group of actors will do.

When I did 'Cyrano' for Roundabout, I was originally supposed to direct and play the title role, but I quickly realized that was madness, and we called in Jamie Lloyd, who directed me in Osborne's 'Inadmissible Evidence.'

I actuall have to defend realism in theatre because I think TV does it badly - so corrupted by layers of bureaucrats who want to leave examination or psychology.

I am always excited to be an actor. If I wasn't, I would be acting, and the audience wouldn't watch me.