Quotes About Performance

I imagined there must be hundreds and thousands and millions of people quiet in the dark out there, waiting with baited breath for me, up on that stage and bathed in colored lights, to say something. I opened my mouth and—hooray—they were going to listen.

W]hat upset grownups of both sexes about Elvis' performance was that he had broken the deepest taboo of all. He used his body as rhythmically and erotically and seductively as a woman--that was the forbidden territory he had entered. It was not only repulsive and offensive--it was nauseating--the word most used. It was an attack on male dignity. The kids, however, not yet grown into the stereotypes of gender, saw in him an exhilarating physical freedom.

I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway; might as well get paid for it.

when being watched, timed, or evaluated, we often cannot display our competence. Our deeper processing may make it seem that at first we are not catching on, but with time we understand and remember more than others.

Stand-up is like a movie every night. You write it, direct it, produce it, the audience votes, and you go home. There's nothing more satisfying.

An ounce of performance is worth more than a pound of preachment

A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.

Hubo un hombre cuya actuación en la guerra de Cuba culmina en los horizontes de mi memoria, como culmina un astro en su perihelio.

she would rap

I wanted to be an actress. I think it had a lot to do with being a kid and watching how every time my dad would stand up to talk people would applaud... that was pretty cool.

Actors are one family over the entire world.

Well, Mom and Dad are both actors, and I've spent a lot of time watching my mom on stage and a lot of time on set with my dad, so it was very much a part of my growing up.

Desde hacía un tiempo yo no distinguía entre zonas públicas y privadas, no me importada que la gente me oyera y juzgara, advertía un fuerte deseo de representar mi rabia como si estuviera sobre un escenario. Cógela, le grité, no la soporto

Pa i reproduciranje je jedan oblik stvaralaštva. Oni koji sviraju uvijek za?injaju juhu svoga sviranja ne?im vlastitim, ne?im što pripada samo njima. Njihova krv struji tom glazbom. Svaki izvo?a? ima svoj skromni cilj: dobro svirati. No i izvo?a? se mora podrediti autoru glazbe koju izvodi, kaže Erika. Priznaje da joj je to problem. Jer ona se nikako ne može podrediti. Njen je glavni cilj isti kao i cilj svih ostalih izvo?a?a: biti bolji od ostalih!

One thing changes every evening: It's the audience, and I'm working my magic. I'm always learning from it.

I wouldn't go up on a stage now if you paid a thousand dollars for one minute of acting. It's a nasty experience. You're up there all by yourself. You're so damn exposed.

Stylized acting and direction is to realistic acting and direction as poetry is to prose.

There is only one thing I respect in so-called Broadway actors... and that is their competitive sense.

Do you want to be an actor, or do you want to be a celebrity? I made that decision when I went to Juilliard. I wanted to be an actor. So, if I get the opportunity to be an actor and do some cool, fun and interesting projects, I'm going to do that.

If you do things right, NOTHING will go wrong. Conversely if you do things wrong, NOTHING will be right.

Participating in music, whether as performer or listener, brings us into contact with greatness, and leaves traces of that greatness as permanent impressions. I share Plato's conviction that musical training is a potent instrument 'because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul'.

Tragedy on the stage is no longer enough for me, I shall bring it into my own life.

When an actor has money he doesn't send letters, he sends telegrams.

Brains can be healthy and still not work well.