My generation of director has no illusions that we are going to be fed and cared for by subsidized theater in America.
I listen to music, I read scripts, and I know pretty intuitively if I can unlock it in a way. It's actually very liberating when you understand that not everything is for you.
Politics, to a degree, is about legislation, administration. You can't be there in the trenches.
Music is rhythm, and all theater is rhythm. It's about tempo and change and pulse, whether you're doing a verse play by Shakespeare or a musical.
For me, the reason why people go to a mountaintop or go to the edge of the ocean is to look at something larger than themselves. That feeling of awe, of going to a cathedral, it's all about feeling lost in something bigger than oneself. To me, that's the definition of spectacle.
Theatre and opera were always the twin kingdoms that I felt I had to conquer, because they were my parents' favorites.