Jane Lynch Quotes

I was a huge theater geek growing up, and that was not the easiest thing in the world, especially growing up in Chicago, where sports are really the norm. I was always off to the theater at night, from 7 years old on. Friends there in the Midwest who could talk to you about the idiosyncrasies of 'Pippin' were few and far between.

I just realized at some point that I was hopelessly in love with the theater. I fought it for a long time because I thought theater was for, you know, insufferable actors.

When I was younger, I was living in that green room and accompanying them to all the different theaters that they worked at. So, that has always remained a nostalgic place for me and also one of great admiration. I was just so grateful that that passion they have for theater translated to me, because I always loved seeing it.

I was not exposed to a lot of culture. The shows we saw in high school, like 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Miss Saigon,' were thrilling. But my love affair with theater started with seeing a production of 'Little Shop of Horrors' that my sister was in.

I had begun my professional career when I was 9 years old at the Cleveland Play House, and it was a very specific, real theater sort of like, you know, in England and the Berliner Ensemble - very devoted people. And I thought the theater was the greatest place I had ever been, and that's what I wanted to do.

All this thing that L.A. doesn't have any love for the theater isn't true.

I love theater. Like, every time I go to New York, I see a play.

The idea that the Tony committee and the New York theater community as a whole have embraced 'Billy Elliot' is very, very exciting.

The L.A. theater scene is very different. The perception has been that people who love theater do theater in New York. The people who want to be discovered do theater on the side in L.A. But there are people who are very dedicated to theater who love theater in L.A.

I've always had not just an affection but a real love for the theater family in New York, and I really feel it is a family. I'm so touched by the generosity of everyone there.

When your father directed your mother in 'Orpheus Descending,' the kid's going to be a theater nerd.

I'm lucky to have worked in theater all over the world, but there's something magical about Broadway. The audiences are smart, they're educated. They go in ready and they're up for it, they're up for the party. It's a whole different atmosphere.

I've never seen a theater community to rival that of Chicago. Neither New York nor L.A. has the raw talent or integrity that Chicago theater has, and I think it's because Chicago doesn't have Broadway or the film and TV business to distract it.

I love the Broadway audiences, who relish live drama and don't hesitate to display their enthusiasm.

My passion was to be on Broadway and to be part of this community because I saw what it was like from the outside as the young kid in and around New York, and I would see things like the 'Easter Bonnet' or 'Broadway Bares,' things I would sneak into.

I don't feel like I need a break from the theater, ever.

That's why I love doing live theater more than anything: You get an immediate reaction, whether it's good or bad.

What I enjoy so much about the Tonys' uniqueness is that anyone who's tuning in has an interest in seeing the show, so our job is halfway done.

Being a part of the theater community has been important to me from the time I was a child, through my parents.

My love of musical theater was certainly not typical. I mean, it was considered to be very, very abnormal, in fact!

I'd always gone to the theater as a child every month to see whatever was on. I think that's where the passion for it came from.

There are so many talented actors in Chicago, I have to go see shows when I'm there. A lot of these actors, who I've seen when I'm in Chicago in theaters, are technically amazing and never have an opportunity to showcase it on a bigger medium.

'Hamilton' has restored my faith in theater.

I actually started working in Chicago while I was still a student; I did the Chicago premiere of 'The History Boys' at the end of my junior year. I had come to Chicago for Northwestern University. I didn't quite know about the theater community, and what I did know was mostly the improv.

The London theater community has been very gracious to me.