Quotes from Annaleigh Ashford

Sadly, I never really tell people what I think. So it's a real treat to play a woman who's able to speak her mind unabashedly.

In the late 1950s, the woman's place in society was second-class.

I think every New York actor's dream is to do Shakespeare in the Park. Each show is so special and unique and diverse because of the elements that we're performing in. Every live show is truly a one-of-a-kind.

I have always known mosquitoes love me, but they really love me in Central Park.

My very first scene on camera for anything was with Sarah Jessica Parker in the 'Sex and the City' movie, and she couldn't have been more lovely and beautiful and kind, and on top of that, she's just a killer actress.

There's no better gift to an actor than when you walk into an audition, and the casting director is your partner.

Donna Summer was one of the strongest female singers in pop music. She was very underrated as a vocalist and a writer, and her songbook is just outrageous.

Even as a little kid, I just loved to make my own music. So I loved singing, and I loved sharing it because it was a way to connect to people.

I grew up listening to cabaret. At 7 and 8 years old, I was already singing like a club performer.

I think there's something beautiful about the art of making art, and it just will live and breathe.

This is magic - the people of Broadway. There's nothing better!

Performing outside, you have to wear sunscreen.

I always try to have a positive and warm intention that is not about me. It is easy to make everything about yourself. But you take the weight off when we make it about the audience. It's about the joy you can bring to somebody else instead of the joy that you get from doing it.

If you can change your mind, you can change the world!

One of the great things that playwright A.R. Gurney does in 'Sylvia' is he gives language to the emotional gestures and energy that our dogs give to us when they're communicating.

A dog's heart chakra is always open; their aim in life is to please.

I did clown training for months.

In the comedy world, there's always been one woman to five men. I think that's changing, that we're being respected more as writers and comedians.

We had a cabin in the mountains - and I remember, one year around this time, a moose came down the river, and one night he came to our cabin and hung out on the back porch for hours. They're really, really, really big animals. And dangerous, especially if they're a momma.

Since I was a little girl, I've collected ladybugs. Not real ones - I never had a weird ladybug farm!

I don't know how to explain it, but ever since I was a little girl, I knew that I wanted to perform.

I love finding ways to make familiar characters into someone unique.

Even though technically the fundamentals of acting are always the same in every medium, what's different is the size.

I kind of had a quarter-life crisis before I did 'Rent.' I had done Glinda in 'Wicked' for a while. I had worked for Cirque Du Soleil, and then I did 'Hair.' Then I had a real quiet time, not having work, and it was a time of not only self-discovery of me as a person, but also what I wanted as an artist and actor.