Scott Ellis

After raising twins, you get organized.

after get you twins

I get to choose the people I work with.

choose get work people

The night before 'The Elephant Man' opened, we had a sleepover for 12 kids. Being organized is the key.

elephant being man night

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.

feel job smart hurt

My directing style has changed over the years. I allow things to breathe a lot more.

more things style years

I feel that once you go into rehearsal, you need to focus on the show in the room.

feel go you focus

'You Can't Take It With You' has eighteen people onstage at one point. Musicals entail a larger collaboration, and I love that.

you collaboration love people

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.

new great me freedom

'On the Twentieth Century' was always something I wanted to do because of Kristin Chenoweth.

something because always wanted

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.

you business change life

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.

best me enjoy people

You can't live like a monk if you have two five-year-old twins. That ain't happening. Just the opposite, actually.

live like you twins

My first time ever on the Tony Awards was in 1984, the year of 'The Rink.'

year awards first-time time

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.

bad back good sometimes

A bad laugh is a laugh for the sake of a laugh that's out of character.

laugh out bad character

The smartest thing a director can do is surround himself with really good people.

director good good-people people

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.

person me brother way

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.

challenge you opportunity time

As an actor, you don't have control over what you do, whom you work with.

control over you work

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.

need think know experience