Brian Stokes Mitchell Quotes
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When you have a community that's strong in the arts, it brings all sorts of attention and different businesses into the community.
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Artists make our lives livable and enjoyable.
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People comment on the way that I phrase. And in my 20s, I realized, my phrasing is jazz phrasing. I don't comply strictly with musical theater phrasing. Musical theater tends to be very one and three, and jazz is definitely two and four.
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The thing about doing concerts is that it's doing a live show. It's on my schedule. It's songs I want to sing. It's saying what I want to say. It's working with the people I want to work with. I don't have to worry about pleasing other people - I can do what I want, and people come along and go for the ride.
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I like being different people.
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I love rethinking and reimagining songs.
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One of the interesting things an artist does is they keep rediscovering things, whether it's a jazz piece or a role you've done for 3,000 performances or a song you're singing for the 3,000th time. My job is to find that spark that keeps it fresh and alive.
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I studied film scoring and orchestration and conducting and arranging in my twenties, and I scored a lot of television shows and other things.
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The first time I really had an influence on a show was during 'Ragtime.' It's still the most magical show that I've ever done.
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I was raised on jazz. My father, from the time I was born, used to get up early on Saturdays and Sundays and put on Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Kenny Burrell, Sarah Vaughn, John Coltrane - all these great, classic albums.
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I didn't really think I liked jazz all that much until I was about 18. That's when the freedom and possibilities of it began to seem appealing to me.
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I kind of feel the career chose me. My motto has always been, 'Go where I'm wanted.'
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I wouldn't call what I do 'dance.'
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I'd always been a huge fan of Stephen Schwartz.
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I was practically raised with Christmas music.
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I like to capture the spirit of what the writers intended but find my own nuances. That comes from jazz - the invention and freeness within a structure.
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Years ago, I couldn't get arrested in commercials because of my look: 'Is he Jewish, Hispanic, or African-American?' I ended up doing voiceover work, which has been great. Honestly, I can't complain.
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'Ragtime' is about how we get through ugliness, how we talk together, work together, get through it together.
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Each time I have performed in Utah, I had a great time, and the audiences seem to enjoy what I do. The audiences are very warm and very appreciative.
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Fear is destructive. Fear and creativity don't mix. Ultimately, it doesn't do you any good.
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'Ragtime' was the most magical show that I've done. I had an incredible experience with that, with the show itself, with the cast, with the audience. The response to that show - my God, it really blew me away, the reactions to that show, the way it changed their lives and altered their thinking, their own self-discovery.
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Honestly, I hate watching myself on TV - I have always hated watching myself and listening to myself.
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I don't recommend skipping college, but things have worked out for me.
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You lose more than you win in life, and that's OK. That's the nature of life.