Simon Callow Quotes

Now the big question is if you are going to go to all the trouble of setting an opera and making all that music and so on, there's got to be some aspect that you can do in an opera that really makes it worth while.

One of the things I love about opera is that it's the combination of all the art forms, and certainly the world of fashion is a big deal in it.

I was never really interested in an operatic post, but I took on the Bastille because it seemed a unique opportunity to build an opera ensemble from scratch, and to deal with all the disciplines that go into opera - the music, the staging and the singing - in an interrelated way.

My operas and my theatre works are very formal pieces.

Opera is the ultimate art form. It has singing and music and drama and dance and emotion and story.

Opera is really fun.

Opera is the most complete art form. It includes drama, acting, technology (lighting), art (the sets), dance, and the epitome of the human voices. But mostly, go for the glorious music. The arts are crucial to the life of every community.

I'd really been interested in opera when I was about 16, and I really like staging them.

Premiering a new opera is probably one of the hardest things in the world to do, and opening nights of any opera are always pretty stressful.

Any opera is interesting if the characters are worth seeing.

In opera, everyone's watching from a fixed viewpoint, and that really challenges you. Lighting, the sets, stage groupings, the music-but doesn't relate too much to film.

I would love to do a musical. I would love that. I would have to find the right book, the right story, but some day I'm going to make one. I would really like to go off and direct a musical. That's what I would really like to do when I grow up.

Directing an opera is similar to directing a play. The singing must not get in the way of the drama.

I saw a lot of operas from backstage and watched a lot of rehearsals - my parents were singers.

I don't know if I would write an opera, maybe because of the words. But yes, I would be really excited to do it. I would certainly write a ballet or... I've done a lot of stage before.

Directing is something I always wanted to do. I started when I was 13 directing scenes in high school and then plays in college with my theatre company.

I want to toy around with producing a Broadway show.

I always knew I wanted to be a performer.

Gosh, I'd like to direct Our Town on stage.

I want to write theater pieces, opera, or some kind of amalgamation where there is singing, music and theater.

Opera is a very stimulating place to work, and I believe it offers the most intense theatrical experience possible.

I'm working in theater. I did not grow up loving or even knowing anything about it, except for 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and 'Tommy.' But I love it. It's such a great collaborative thing.

I went on tour in the play H.M.S. Pinafore.

For me, you say the words 'concept record,' and the first thing I think of is theater or the opera or something.

It is essential to do everything possible to attract young people to opera so they can see that it is not some antiquated art form but a repository of the most glorious music and drama that man has created.