I loved growing up in Shaker Heights, and I really miss it.

Growing up, I loved looking at the photos in my mother's old Betty Crocker cookbook: the chocolate cakes, the cookie house, even the cheese balls and fondues.

My mother wrote a teen column for the South China Morning Post in the 1950s when she was growing up in Hong Kong. Her name was Lily Mark, but she sometimes wrote under her confirmation name, Margaret Mark. That was how she met my father.

Every writer needs new material now and then, whether it's traveling to Japan, volunteering at a food bank, learning a new language, or trying a new food.

I come from a family rooted in the arts, so I think I naturally gravitated towards performing from an early age.

When you are a father, when you talk to your son or your daughter for the first time, they don't understand you. Of course, you have patience, and you keep talking to them, and eventually they do understand.

I am thrilled to receive the Sondheim Award from the wonderful Signature Theatre. I have already received the invaluable gift of over twenty-five years of collaboration and friendship with Steve. Now I get to have his award, too!

Most people think I am very nice; they think I'm their friend, which is lucky, but it means you're never allowed to be in a bad mood. They take it personally. The worst is when you're on holiday with your family.