I think that there is such power with the live performance of it - so much of what 'Motown' is about is the live performance aspect, really. The power of our production is really the music and the performances.
For me, religion is a political construct, and spirituality is a community construct, and there's a real difference.
I grew up in the Episcopal Church, went to private school in that church, went to chapel every day.
I work in musical theater because people keep writing quality stories in the genre, and I'm really all about investing in a piece that says something about our current time, that is, a reflection on who we are today.
Whether or not your candidate wins, the crucial importance is the integrity of our voting system. You have to engage in the process in order to change it.
People talking about making America great again? America's never been great. The greatness of America is in its pursuit of greatness.
We have to look honestly at ourselves and recognize the positives, the negatives, and the challenges we can overcome.
I really only knew the name Berry Gordy growing up, but I didn't know what he looked like or anything about him.
Nothing surprises me about Berry Gordy.
The producers, the creators, and the cast, we recognize that 'Hamilton' is an inherently American story told by the definition of an American community; we are men and women of different colors, creeds, and orientations.
'Rent' audiences tend to be pretty vocal. They scream and cheer a lot.
I practice a personal meditation and have a gala apple before each show.
My No. 1 artistic inspiration in theater is Brian Stokes Mitchell.
I think 'Rent' will run forever.
My introduction to Motown was through The Jackson Five and Michael Jackson. Michael's been my greatest creative inspiration, so that's how I really became familiar with Motown as a whole, and as I got older, I learned far more about the other groups.
As a country, we like to ignore our past. We don't like to look at it.
It's important to seize any opportunity one has to speak to their elected representatives, no matter the situation.
I know a lot of people say, 'You're an athlete or actor... and you shouldn't speak up.' I think that makes no sense. No matter who you are, no matter what you do in the country, you're a part of our democracy, and if you have a voice, you need to use it.
We need to encourage people to speak up, to speak out, because the more people who participate in our democracy, the more our democracy grows.
Part of the elements of the electoral college is creation. Certainly it was created in slave states and them wanting to balance power, but there's not a specific set of the country always determining who the president is.
