We have a particular philosophy in the casting room that we don't really tell the actors - the actors tell us.

In the past, once a movie musical was made, it was believed that you were left with that version, good or bad, for posterity.

I think maybe the most important thing that we have to say is that people don't often talk about network executives being brave. You don't talk about them as having integrity and a higher purpose, because it's a job... except for Bob Greenblatt. He is a theatre person. He loves and understands it.

People think, 'Oh, you're doing 'The Wiz' because 'Empire' is such a big hit.' The truth is, staging this musical has been a dream of ours since the '90s, but the rights were tied up. It's just coincidental that, this year, when we were choosing a new musical, the rights were cleared.

I'm the eldest of four - I love my family so much. I'm crazy about them.

My mother and my father divorced during the time that my father was getting his Ph.D. at Tulane.

There will be no 'Mommie Dearest' in the lives of my children, and no books like the one the Crosby boy wrote about Bing, or Bette Davis's daughter has written. My children love me very much, and they are loved.

It's a good harsh reality, because my family keeps me very grounded.