Scott Ellis Quotes
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Casting, to me, is always the same. It's a very important part of a director's job. I pick people that I sense I'd like to be in a room with and will enjoy the rehearsal process with because that's the best part.
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I don't consider myself a flashy director. A lot of times, people will look and don't even know what I do.
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I feel that once you go into rehearsal, you need to focus on the show in the room.
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I always have to come back to shows to take out the improvements actors have put in. Laughs are addictive, and sometimes they're good laughs, and sometimes they're bad laughs.
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'On the Twentieth Century' was always something I wanted to do because of Kristin Chenoweth.
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'You Can't Take It With You' has eighteen people onstage at one point. Musicals entail a larger collaboration, and I love that.
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The challenge of a revival is how to bring something fresh. The reward is the opportunity to add different flourishes. You're dealing with different actors, designers and a different time.
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Being a twin, and knowing if my twin was gone or lost - that's a part of me. There's no way I could be the same person knowing my brother had passed away.
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Any director who comes into a revival owes a great deal to the original director. If I know the backbone works, it gives me, as a director, much more freedom to bring something new to it or try something different.
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My acting experience has been a benefit. What I learned from directors is how to listen to and talk with actors. I know how they think and what they need.
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The smartest thing a director can do is surround himself with really good people.
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The night before 'The Elephant Man' opened, we had a sleepover for 12 kids. Being organized is the key.
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My directing style has changed over the years. I allow things to breathe a lot more.
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The theatre show-biz types don't change much, no matter what era we're in. The question of how you balance being in show business with your personal life isn't very different.
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I'm big on research. I love research, so I tend to do a lot of reading.
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When you're working on a play like 'Sloane,' that play works; you don't have to worry about that. When you're working on a new play like 'Little Dog,' you have no clue if the play works. You're exploring.
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'Twelve Angry Men' was done with an intermission, and I took that out. I really wanted an audience to feel like they had no break, just like those jurors, and you're not going to get out of that room until you come to a decision.
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My first time ever on the Tony Awards was in 1984, the year of 'The Rink.'
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After raising twins, you get organized.
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You can't live like a monk if you have two five-year-old twins. That ain't happening. Just the opposite, actually.
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A bad laugh is a laugh for the sake of a laugh that's out of character.
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As an actor, you don't have control over what you do, whom you work with.
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I get to choose the people I work with.
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Actors are smart. They have to feel safe enough to fall and to get back up. My job is to make sure they don't get hurt.