Lorraine Bracco Quotes

It's thrilling to be onstage and to not know, literally, what the next moment is going to bring. To just submit to the not-knowing-ness of it.

Doing stand-up is like running across a frozen pond with the ice breaking behind you. I love it because it's dangerous.

All theater is unpredictable. That's the definition of theater.

I love the spontaneity of plays and of being onstage, because that's an energy that you can't really fabricate in movies.

With a play, for me, there's no time to sit back on it. You're living on your instincts. And every night there are subtle changes and adjustments, because what's in front of you is a living, breathing audience.

Acting is what happens on the way.

I do my best creating on stage.

I think any actor would agree that you can't replace theater. It's immediate. You have the energy of the crowd and every single night it's different.

As an actor, you don't know what is going to come next.

I'll tell you what I love about directing: the surprise. You never know what's going to happen with your piece until an audience weighs in.

So what's so enticing about doing a play is that you get to do that thing that got you into acting in the first place... There's a real attraction to being able to play, to just play. And that's something that theater affords you.

You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you do, and there's not a lot of waiting around and interruption and not a lot of money involved - sometimes money really clouds the waters of creativity.

There's real drama in performing live. You never know how it's going to be.

Theater is about surprises and things that you haven't seen before on stage.

The great fun of doing new plays is that people have no idea what's going to happen next. That goes quite soon, as people start talking about it, and the only way you can keep hold of that is genuinely to keep changing it.

I don't think we've ever known what the hell's going on when we do Tap shows. It's possible the audience are effectively getting to see more of the movie when we play. You know, they know the songs, so anything we do onstage, whether we're meaning to or not, is an extension of the film. Other than that, I wouldn't understand what's going on.

Improv is a disposable art form, but it's kind of freeing in that way, too, because things can fail, and the audience is a little more forgiving.

When it's a live performance, anything can happen.

I think from doing so many live shows it gives you a real appreciation of being present. You don't know what's going to happen, you don't know what is around the corner.

I love to create something new every night onstage; that makes a big difference.

The best thing about theatre is that every time we get onstage, the show is new.

Anytime you give a man in a wig a microphone, anything can happen.

That's what's so satisfying about acting. You can come as prepared as you like, but there's no accounting for what's going to come at you from the other actor. That's part of the joy and the play of it. If you don't have that it's a different kind of performance.

A stage space has two rules: (1) Anything can happen and (2) Something must happen.

You don't always do the same things you've done the night before. That's what makes playing live so interesting as opposed to being in the studio.