Perfume Genius Quotes

I grew up with a sister and a younger brother in a house where every evening was spent performing a dance routine in front of our parents with my sister.

I was five years old; I got addicted to being on stage. I felt like it was the most wonderful place on Earth, performing in front of an audience, who in this case were a bunch of classmates, kids my age.

The last thing in the world my parents would want to do is get on a stage or do a movie. They would probably rather die. But they let me be who I was, and they supported me.

I used to have a silk dressing gown an uncle bought in Japan and when I came downstairs in it, my dad used to call me Davinia. There was never embarrassment about that kind of thing. My sister used to dress me up a lot. She thought I was a little doll.

When I was little, I was actually really shy. I really enjoyed doing school plays, but I found the whole thing terrifying. I cried myself to sleep once because I thought my teacher was going to give me the lead role. I never imagined acting was a viable career.

I always performed when I was a child. My parents got very annoyed, because my brother and I had our little bedrooms upstairs, and I would plaster the house with posters with arrows pointing upstairs.

I saw my first two Broadway shows when I was 4 years old, 'The Lion King' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' and after both of them I came home and reenacted the entirety of the shows on my living room table for my family and friends. I started doing that after every show I saw until I actually did my first youth production when I was 5.

Initially with The Butcher Boy, there was this kid growing up in this strange, weird environment that I remember from when I was a kid. And Patrick's vision was so complete there.

I remember being a little kid sitting in the living room with my brother and some friends from around the neighborhood, and I would sit at the piano and as they were running around the room doing different things and being silly, acting out, I would actually play the score for it - the music that went along with it.

My grandfather made films on God, I make it on the devil, so, I wonder what he would say if he was alive. He'd probably disown me.

Being on set with my dad - that's so cool. People always ask me if that made me nervous, but it's the same element when you're a kid - when your parents come in the auditorium for those school performances. It calms you.

Back in the old days, when I was a child, we sat around the family table at dinner time and exchanged our daily experiences. It wasn't very organized, but everyone was recognized and all the news that had to be told was told by each family member. We listened to each other and the interest was not put on; it was real.

Many writers secretly long to be performers. You always get the 'if you weren't a writer' question. I would be a back-up singer, to stand in the back and go like 'do, do, do.'

I can remember dancing around living room with my two sisters to the music of Paganini and Mozart. I can still remember my dad combing the newspaper, circling all the free concerts in town, and on the weekends, we would go as a family.

I remember I always felt much more safe standing up on a chair and singing in front of my mother than I was in front of my father!

My mom never cared if I came home dirty from playing outside with my brother. If I got my dress muddy, or my jeans were ripped, or I got blood on something. But I think a lot of girls have a different experience.

My father was a preacher so I wouldn't sing at all when he was around, but as soon as he locked the door, 'La la la.'

As early as I can remember, I would put on plays with my cousin and make my dad record them. In kindergarten, I started doing the school plays, and it just continued.

I remember coming in second in a singing competition when I was about 5. I was terrified and didn't win because I apparently looked miserable.

My mom and I used to dance to the Jackson 5 in our living room.

What happened when you were twelve?” “Oh, Mom offered to take us all out for dinner—us girls, Dad was out of town—to celebrate, but I didn’t want to. This book I’d been waiting for had just come out, and the only thing I wanted to do was read it all night.” “My God,” I said, touching the top of her nose. “You’re adorable.

My life is like a music-hall,Where, in the impotence of rage,Chained by enchantment to my stall,I see myself upon the stageDance to amuse a music-hall.

Having to stand in front of an audience and have it be your job to make them laugh, you can't really look to anyone but yourself. It's what you wrote, what you said and how you said it, so it's kind of terrifying, but I liked it. When it goes well, it's the best feeling in the world. When it doesn't go well, it's the worst feeling, but once you get into the rhythm of it, I think it's really fun.

The earliest memories I have from my childhood are of my mum getting ready to go on stage. I must have been about five and I would watch her vomiting backstage on opening night, and then the next minute she became Isabella, the Queen of Spain. At the time I remember thinking, 'What kind of schizophrenic job is this?' Now it all makes sense.

I have been on stage on a few occasions where I felt I couldn't escape the interior of my - my interior thoughts. But Peter Wolf once said, what's the strangest thing you can do on stage? Think about what you're doing.