Ben Vereen Quotes

I enjoy making films, but my heart is in the stage. Every night you have to be on. There's no second take.

As rewarding as a good film role can be, there is just nothing like getting up on a stage and taking an audience for a ride.

When I'm on stage, my interaction with the audience is something that really makes me come alive. It's a feeling like no other. The energy of the crowd fuels something new inside.

I've always had live audiences.

When you're doing a play you get to go full speed ahead, all night, in front of an audience. It's a roller-coaster ride, responding to other actors, it feeds you.

I've really grown to love film, but I think occasionally you need to get up on a stage and see what's going on.

Acting was merely a pastime; I wanted to make films. But theatre, ah - now that was a labour of love. Can there be anything better than performing without retakes and cuts, in front of people you can see, hearing them breathe in the darkness of the hall?

The great thing about stage is that you have a live audience.

The stage is one place where you come face to face with your audience, unlike cinemas where you cannot see the applause or the booing by the audience.

When you're on stage and you got a great audience, that makes the show that much better for the band.

Some guys like myself, we like to play off the crowd.

I am so excited to perform; I am so ready to perform; I love live performances! I think it's something so different from a track; live is just so unique and cool because the energy is just so different. I cannot wait to have live performances.

A live audience with live reactions feeds a different sort of acting that will then inform your film work, and vice versa.

Why do you act? You act for an audience. In the theatre, you're in their presence. Film stars don't know what it is to have an audience.

I really enjoy doing the live stuff.

There's nothing like a play. It's so immediate and every performance is different. As an actor, you have the most control over what the audience is seeing.

Every crowd is different. But that's something that I enjoy, and you can feel it in the first few seconds when you walk out on stage. You know, how a crowd is.

I like the energy of live performance.

The relationship with a live audience seems to me to count for more.

Movies have takes. But plays are like life - you don't really get takes.

I love to perform live.

In the theatre, the actor is given immediate feedback.

I love flexing theater muscles. Television has merits as well, but there's no substitute for live theater.

There's nothing like spending an evening with an audience every night.

The best part about being a stand-up is the connection with the audience. There's nothing more gratifying then when you can make 300 people applaud and stand up - because that's all you.