Ben Brantley Quotes

It's a unique thing to stand in front of a crowd and sing your songs.

I love pressure in a different sort of way; I enjoy the pressure of getting out and performing for the public. Being compared and judged doesn't seem quite right to me.

Theatre, when it is at its best, takes a lot of beating - the live experience and the shared collective experience of live storytelling is really special when it is good. Particularly here in New York because the audiences are amazing, very vocal and very engaged, and that makes theatre very exciting.

But I love singing live. Nothing beats the feeling of going out on stage and going, 'I can really sing.'

Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.

I forgot how scary plays are. The audience is so much a part of the night - I know that a lot of it is trying to shut that out and just do your own thing.

Performing is a profound experience, at least for me.

When I show a film at a festival, I am showing myself. Everything is at stake for me.

I always go in very emotionally when I'm doing music. Sad or happy, I'm always into it. I have a hard time writing for other people, writing with someone else in mind.

Once you've experienced the warmth of an audience, the achievement of getting your first laugh, and entertaining them, singing or playing piano, it just keeps it all going.

Acting is really about having the courage to fail in front of people.

I love to sing 'Stay' every night... because people sing along. And they do sing along - loudly!

I know it's cliche, but after the first show, I knew I liked singing, being on stage, making people happy. It just felt natural.

I play some places where the people are right at my feet, and you can see their expressions. It's kind of more like playing in your living room. It's almost easier to play in front of thousands of people in an arena scene, in some ways, but you don't get the personal contact.

Cabaret presents different challenges, as it is all on me. I love having the freedom to say anything you want - do anything you want. It is a lot of responsibility, and if it works, you get all the kudos, and if not - all the blame.

I identify with the characters very closely. At the same time that I'm outside, writing, I'm also inside, experiencing, and it can be very unsettling.

Performing is the hardest thing. Even though I've done it for so many years, it's still exposing yourself. You suddenly become extremely vulnerable when you're on camera. You're filmed and you're being observed. It's a bit of a violation each time.

It's impossible for me to play a part without thinking about the audience.

It's tough to watch a movie you're in - you put everything into it, you want everything to work, and you never know until you see it all together.

It takes a lot of courage to be a performer.

I take everything personally- that's what being a person is all about.

Some people can very easily switch off and be guilt free, not that what I'm doing is about guilt, but they can completely disconnect and not care because it doesn't affect them. I've always really cared about what happens and felt a certain responsibility.

It's pretty intense to have someone (the camera) looming there when you are singing a song but it's sort of invigorating too.

There's a side to being in a band that some people embrace and some don't: the fact that you're performing and you care about how it comes across.

I have already spent roughly five thousand hours asleep next to you. This has to mean something.