Quotes from Phillipa Soo

I read 'Backstage' a lot when I first was unleashed into the world from drama school. And what was great about it was that if I was using it or not, it was just nice to know what was happening in my community.

I think I've learned, really, just how to let go - if an idea doesn't work, or it's not perfect, that's O.K.

My grandmother was a classical pianist, so I grew up with Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven. I studied piano as a kid. My musical background and upbringing was very much a mix.

There's the cool factor, right? You see your face on a sign or your name on something, like, 'Ahh! Here I am!' And then there's a huge responsibility and the scary part of it, which is like, 'Now what happens?' And then you realize, 'Oh, yeah, this is my job.'

We did a student-initiated project of 'A Little Night Music', which was the first time that all of the divisions - music, dance, drama, opera - came together and put on a piece. It was a black box kind of feel. We had to get costumes that were pieced together. We had our own lighting that we finagled.

I've been very lucky. I made a choice, getting out of school, to follow the work and the people that really struck my heartstrings; 'Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812' was one of those - maybe it was an accident.

I think I'm obsessed with food. Maybe that's why I'm making the transition to organic products - they just feel yummy. I like vanilla scents. I like mint. I like sage. I like the idea of smelling blackberries every time I blink. It's so good.

My mother took my brother and I to a production of 'The Tempest', and it was in this very small - it could have been the basement of a church or a black box. The space was vast, but there were maybe 15 seats in the middle. Ariel came out wearing a nude sparkly thong and spike heels, and the muses had these gossamer see-through gowns on.

On long car rides, we would always listen to the 'Blues Brothers' soundtrack and try to emulate everything that Aretha Franklin was doing. There was soul and grit in it that I think a kid from the suburbs really needed.

I went through a phase when I was watching a lot of foreign films, just itching to get out of the suburbs and explore.

When I go into a theater, I'm very excited to turn off my phone. But then, of course, I get anxiety.

There's a huge shift in the way we connect with people as humans in the technology age versus right before that, when we still had a little bit of mystery.

I took dance from a very early age, although my first recital, I remember refusing to go onstage. I think I was three. It's funny because that stage was also my high school theater stage.