Ben Brantley Quotes
Theater criticism should be visceral, at least on some level, an articulation of that fierceness and passion. I usually do a fair amount of research before I see a show - on the history of previous productions (if it's a revival) and the creative team.
Quotes to Explore
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The first job I ever had was at a pool-liner-manufacturing plant. Minimum wage was $4.25, and that's what I was making. It was this huge, hot, un-air-conditioned factory staffed with all women and me. This is in Georgia, during the summertime, so it was pretty ridiculous.
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If a division becomes insolvent, the credit markets' reaction to that is immediate - regardless of what period of time you think you have to remedy.
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I don't think I had the aspiration to be a star growing up. I loved Madonna and Bette Midler, and I had my karaoke machine and would sing their songs.
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I shall produce nothing that will offend the proprieties, whether applied to children or grownups. My pictures are turned out with clean hands and, therefore, with a clear conscience which, like virtue, is its own reward.
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Knitting not only relaxes me, it also brings a feeling of being at home.
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I think I'm a bit odd.
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For me, whenever I would see a lot of 'black films,' I didn't feel represented in it. I didn't feel connected to the characters or the situations or the humor.
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The most fascinating person is always the one of the most winning manners; not the one of greatest physical beauty.
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People don't really want reality. They want theater, and that's different.
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I don't take pleasure in anyone's demise, really.
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And as long as people want to hear me sing, I don't know why I'd retire.
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But no, I'm still living in LA and haven't dropped off the face of the earth.
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Cultures, along with the religions that shape and nurture them, are value systems, sets of traditions and habits clustered around one or several languages, producing meaning: for the self, for the here and now, for the community, for life.
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Gluttony is not a secret vice.
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Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. It's how we deal with life, love, death, birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture.
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I have rules for a lot of areas of my life. Love is not going to be one of them.
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The year hasn't started yet and it's already been the best I've ever had.
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We can succeed only by concert. It is not, 'Can any of us imagine better,' but, 'Can we all do better?'
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We leave TVs on in our house. I listen to my record player constantly to just hear music. I'm really intrigued by this idea of solitude.
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They're making so few movies that you really just have to make it. It's going to be the only way you end up getting work. I don't believe anyone's going to really go out on a limb and just throw millions of dollars on someone that's not been proven. They're going to have to show somebody something at some point.
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I started a grease fire at McDonald's - threw a match in the cook's hair.
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The fact is that trauma and risk taking hadn't become scarier over the years; it had become more normal.
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The more laws that governments pass, the less individual freedom there is. Any student of history will tell you that. Totalitarian countries ban pretty much everything.
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Theater criticism should be visceral, at least on some level, an articulation of that fierceness and passion. I usually do a fair amount of research before I see a show - on the history of previous productions (if it's a revival) and the creative team.
