We all have to go through our own experiences of growing up.

Going to Broadway - then to be invited to the Tonys - I really tap into what that feels like now to fulfill lifetime goals.

When you do something eight times a week, you fall into those little places where sometimes things can get a bit stagnant. That's why I always welcome a new face on the stage.

My mother had people lay hands on me to cast demons out of me when I was 8. Then two or three times when I was in college.

For one moment, after I left Jerusalem with my family for life in Illinois, I thought that maybe there's still a chance: maybe there are still enough people in Israel who refuse to rule and oppress another nation.

In my travels, I also noticed that kids in Thailand like spicy food, and kids in India love curry. I'm hoping to introduce my son, Hudson, to lots of veggies and spices when he's young. I say that before he's started on solid foods, so it could be easier in theory than practice!

Verdiana was the child of poor though well-born parents, and her knowledge of the sufferings of the poor from her own experience in early years made her ever full of pity for those in need.

The values transmitted through oral history are many - courage, selflessness, the ability to endure, and to do so with humor and grace. I got those values listening to my dad's stories about the Depression and how their family survived. It gave me courage that I, too, could survive hard times.