Quotes About Performance

We did the Dope Jam tour in the spring and summer of 1988—besides me, it was Biz Markie, Boogie Down Productions, Doug E. Fresh, Kool Moe Dee, and Eric

B. & Rakim. Then straight after that we did the Bring the Noise tour with Public Enemy, N.W.A, and EPMD. "Colors" was always my opening song.

I did a few opening-act gigs at United Nations and Water the Bush. I opened up for Digital Underground when they came to L.A. and

When we started shooting New Jack City in April of 1990, I wasn't nervous anymore; I was fucking scared. Chris Rock was, too. We had a lot of heavy, dramatic scenes to pull off and we were both feeling the pressure.

One thing I learned on New Jack City is that when you're making a movie, the trick is to make it feel real but not be

A lot of times I'd step out of my own zone as Scotty Appleton and tell Wesley or Chris or Judd how shit really would get said in the game. Subtle little things like gestures and looks. Things I lived firsthand, things I witnessed, I was able to add that into the performances.

player." I nodded, got up, took the mic, kicked some rhymes that were floating around in my head—real impromptu—and won first prize.

I would love to play 'Funny Girl' or 'Evita ' but I idolize the women who have played those parts. I don't know if there needs to be another version of those shows.

For me, 'Rent' was all about coming out of myself, finding out who I was, learning the power I could have as a performer.

Generosity is also marked by doing what one says one will do. Saadi teaches: 'when the generous promise, they perform

Film music should have the same relationship to the film drama that somebody's piano playing in my living room has on the book I am reading.

Conductors' careers are made for the most part with 'Romantic' music. 'Classic' music eliminates the conductor we do not remember him in it.

Film music should have the same relationship to the film drama that somebody's piano playing in my living room has to the book I am reading.

Recordings of Georgian folk polyphonic songs makes a great musical impression. They are recorded in a tradition of active reproduction of Georgian folk music the origin of which begins from ancient time. It is a wonderful finding and can give to the performance much more than all the modem music can... Yodel or "Krimanchuli" as it is called in Georgia is the best song which I have ever heard. ["America" magazine, No 23 1967]

The perfection of performance has escalated to the extent that the music itself is threatened with relegation.

Like many entertainers, Hank always needed an audience. Nothing unsettled him more than his own company.

every night as he performed. The reception even surprised Hank. He knew he was the king of the honky-tonks, but now he had stadium crowds eating out of his hand, and legit entertainers working as his supporting acts

Grand Ole Opry appearances were a loss leader. Like

On August 7, 1948, Hank made his first appearance on the Louisiana Hayride. He was the fifth act on the opening 8:00–8:30 p.m. segment.

Was there ever any doubt? And as the spotlights fade away, And you're escorted through the foyer, You will resume your callow ways, But I was meant for the stage.

When I'm on stage, it's a little world I've created where I'm sort of the thing, so I have total control over everything that happens. When we're improvising, I'm with someone I totally trust. I know things are going to work out. I don't have those guarantees in life. There are no consequences on stage.

When things go badly, it is your fault, not theirs. You are responsible. Analyze how it happened, make the necessary fixes, and move on. No mass punishment or floggings. Fire people if you need to, train harder, insist on a higher level of performance, give halftime rants if that shakes a group up. But never forget that failure is your responsibility.

He is very dry but also very funny... I think people tend to feel odd when I do my act. Unless you are an ironic person, it's not a good place for you to be.

That's the beauty of being a comedian - it's the one job you're allowed to do that. We're lucky. We're really lucky.