Twyla Tharp Quotes

Instinct taught me 20 years ago to pace a song or a concert performance. That translates into pacing a story, pleasing a reading audience.

You see, when I go on stage I perform with just a guitar and you have to have very strong material to hold an audience from getting bored or restless. One strong way of doing that is the story because everybody will listen to a story.

The thing about acting that's unlike any other art form is that it's collaborative; directing and acting are a collaboration, and your acting won't succeed if the lighting design doesn't succeed or sets don't succeed.

I'm like an old vaudeville act. They'll have to pull me off the stage with a hook.

Sometimes I start off shows by explaining to people that it's just a bunch of stories - I always say 'It's like standup, just less funny.'

I feel like, anytime I'm onstage, I tend to feel very connected with people in the audience or with the sort of heartbeat or tempo of the audience.

Even if an episode is self-contained, the preceding episodes always affect how the audience takes it in.

I just love the idea of taking an elevator down to the stage, like Elvis did.

Thrillers rely on certain archetypes and our familiarity with them is quietly driving all of the tension. So it becomes an interesting challenge from the score perspective, to enhance that tension without being noticed, just like those archetypes.

The beauty of theater is that you get to live the character from beginning to end without stopping. The natural momentum of the story propels you through in such a way that feels organic.

Our live shows are a visual as well as a musical experience.

It doesn't matter which genre you're working in, you try to find an honest relationship within that space, and say if it's the romance genre, within that you have to find a story and characters that resonate with an audience.

We use wrestling moves to tell a story but it boils down to the character and being able to bring either love or hate out of your crowd.

I try to mix the characters up and not be second guessed by the audience.

It may take a while, but I think 'On the Town' has the potential for us to break down the boundaries between the traditional theatergoer who may have fond memories of the musical and those with a 'Broadway-is-not-for-me' agenda.

When doing a fantasy show - or a show with fantasy elements - the more you can anchor an effect to reality, the stronger the illusion is.

I always find with dramas that the more that's left to the imagination of the audience, the better.

People think our business is this completely fictional world of big guys in tight clothes with no brains. That's not the way it is; this is a psychology-driven business. You have to take people on an emotional ride without using words.

We love the idea of really putting on a show. It's not just a band playing on the stage. There's a theatrical element to what's going on.

I never look at twists as a way to trick the audience. Obviously, I think a good story has surprises and unexpected turns, and you always want to do that with an audience. But it has nothing to do with conning them or making them believe so strongly in one thing and then kind of going the other way.

With Quentin Tarantino, he makes movies imagining himself as the audience. To be specific and true to what he wants resonates to people who like his movies.

My view... was that something could happen during the credits that could help the film, so that the establishing shots aren't carrying the total burden.

I don't really think about the crowd when I am in the middle. I actually forget about the crowd, forget the money; that's exactly what I always do.

It was important to me to make a film where I don't show the past but where the spectators can see the past.

The nature of a movie story is you have to keep charging forward and keep the audience with the story.