Marsha Norman Professions : Playwright Born : September 21, 1947 Browse All Authors Top 36 quotes by Marsha Norman My view is that musicals are love stories with great final scenes. It's just that simple. Musicals are also conflicts between two worlds. And by those criteria, 'The Color Purple' is actually exactly the kind of story that makes for a great musical. Yes, it's got hard stuff in it, but so does 'Les Miserables' and 'Phantom of the Opera.' Marsha Norman color simple views There are days when I think the National Endowment for the Arts should issue a quota system for the production of plays by women - especially when you realize women buy 70 percent of all theater tickets. Marsha Norman play art thinking People listen to music with cavemen ears: Is it a bird song or the call of a lion? The audience at a musical is dancing in their hearts. Marsha Norman heart song people I'm just not having a very good time and I don't have any reason to think it'll get anything but worse. I'm tired. I'm hurt. I'm sad. I feel used. Marsha Norman tired hurt thinking I have had an inordinate and painful concern for the audience in my writing career. Marsha Norman careers painful writing The theater is a communal event, like church. The playwright constructs a mass to be performed for a lot of people. She writes a prayer, which is really just the longings of one heart. Marsha Norman prayer heart writing What's so good about a heaven where, one of these days, you're going to get your embarrassing old body back? Marsha Norman embarrassing body heaven People do think that if they avoid the truth, it might change to something better before they have to hear it. Marsha Norman might people thinking When you fight something long enough, it becomes a center pole right in your life and you count on it to be there to fight with. Marsha Norman fighting enough long After I won the Pulitzer, there was this sense of, 'OK, that's enough for you. Now go away.' What I wanted was to keep writing, keep working. But no one would produce anything of mine they didn't think would be as big as ''night, Mother.' Marsha Norman mother writing night I grew up at the piano, and I longed to write musicals. Marsha Norman piano grew-up writing When ''night, Mother' opened, I did not know how long it would be before I would have another show on Broadway. Marsha Norman mother night long Jesus was a suicide, if you ask me. Marsha Norman ask-me suicide jesus If I had not had music in my life, I would be the neurasthenic vision of the playwright. Marsha Norman playwright vision would-be What I hope to do is create a play that investigates the ongoing violence toward women and children in the world, and searches for some kind of answer to the question, 'What Can We Do?' Marsha Norman women hope children world Think of a musical as a string of pearls. If you don't have a string, you can't put the pearls around your neck. Marsha Norman neck your think you Similar Authors Alan Ayckbourn playwright Bonnie Greer playwright Annie Baker playwright August Wilson playwright August Strindberg playwright Athol Fugard playwright All Authors