Diane Paulus

The musical theater is a glorious and distinctly American innovation in the history of theater. ”

I'm always interested in working with people who are good team players - that are selfless that way in their interests and dedication to the project. ”

I knew ART was was going to give me this opportunity to expand my role as a director and finally let me have a seat at the table where I could get involved in these policy discussions and producing discussions and, frankly, the financial discussions. ”

Being a director, whether you're in rehearsal or you're in auditions or you're in a creative meeting, is so much to me about being present in the moment. There's a sense of time stopping. ”

I want an audience that will come sitting forward in their seats. ”

I had to drop a boulder to wake people up about the A.R.T. We've done that, and now we have audiences again who want cutting-edge work, who want to be challenged, but who also won't be falling asleep at the theater. ”

I'm always interested in looking - historically - at how theater can animate history and how all of that can make us engage with our lives in an enriching way. ”

I grew up with a beautiful gold harp sitting in our living room. My older sister played it. ”

I'm sorry, but to ask an audience these days to invest three hours in a show requires your heroine be an understandable and fully rounded character. ”

Look at where I lived! Four blocks from Lincoln Center. I used to play in the fountain. And then I started taking dance lessons. I was in 'The Nutcracker' for the N.Y. City Ballet when I was 8 and dancing in 'The Firebird' for George Balanchine when I was 9. Believe me, that's something you don't ever forget. ”