I really did start a whole way of thinking about musical theater.
I always sort of saw myself as different from a musician.
My grandparents from the old country, Latvia, were all musical on my father's side.
All the things you do, even the shows that don't work, are as much work, but you learn more from the things that are difficult.
'Cabaret' was the most commercial success that I've been involved in.
There are problems in doing television that have been plaguing me for years. I really like to have a lot of time, to rehearse and make things as good as they can be, but television often doesn't allow for that.
My father was the one who used to stand up in the middle of a number to flutter his lips and make sputtering sounds into lyrics.
I don't like labels, but if you have to put a label on it, I'm a gay man.
I came to realize, along with being attracted to girls, I had similar feelings for boys.
I was traumatized by a lot of childhood stuff. I felt that I was bad somewhere, starting with my birth.
Being at the Play House, the only way I could see my life was that I would be an actor in a company, doing a lead role one week, a small part the next. That's what I thought I was going to be.
For me to take a role, I read a script, and I think, 'Wow, I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I want to try.'
Eight times a week, I got to be a gay man, a remarkable gay man, and every night, that felt as full, as true, as passionate, and as authentic as I ever felt in my life.
I never learned to speak Yiddish, ever.
I never think about my age very much. I've always lived my life the same way, full of excitement and anticipation of wonderful things and the knowledge that some not-so-wonderful things come with it.
I had begun my professional career when I was 9 years old at the Cleveland Play House, and it was a very specific, real theater sort of like, you know, in England and the Berliner Ensemble - very devoted people. And I thought the theater was the greatest place I had ever been, and that's what I wanted to do.
The fundamental job of the actor is to tell about the human condition, to be a voice for the truest ideas and deepest emotions.
There's a civility that has always been a part of me.
I was already in my early twenties, but I looked much younger because I was fresh-faced and, well, short. So I did songs such as 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah' and jokes such as describing current events as 'ancient history.' Boy, did the audience roar at that one.
I was so successful in Cleveland, and we moved to Los Angeles, and there was nothing for me to do. All of a sudden, from being a success, I was a has-been at 13.
