I always try to make each character my own.

Aaron Lazar

Categorized in : Try Own Character My Own

The idea of doing a production of 'Carousel' that doesn't feel like it's stuck in the 1950s really intrigues me.

doing feel like me

My dad's paternal grandparents were musically inclined. And I remember as a little kid going to visit them in their senior building, and they were, like, the stars of the building, especially hosting and performing in their senior talent show.

talent dad stars remember

Life in New York can be so, I don't know, chaotic, overwhelming, busy, frantic, and often, seniors can easily get overlooked.

new know busy life

I get to sing and act and write and create and produce for a living and share art with people, and I feel like a piece of that is in honor of those who came before me.

feel me people art

I think that's why I'm an actor: so I can tell those stories without having to really live through those stories with real consequences and real stakes, real responsibility.

live think i-can responsibility

I sort of wrongfully judged 'Mamma Mia!' for so long. I thought of it as a jukebox musical that I wasn't interested in. I was so wrong.

interested wrong thought long

You have to learn how to act a pop song. You have to find the balance of the pop from the pop song and the lyrical significance of the scene you are in.

find you balance song

I was just so excited to have a child! I held him up like he was Simba in 'The Lion King.' I wanted to sing 'The Circle of Life.'

lion king child life

It'll be interesting to raise kids in New York City. I'm from suburbia, so I don't really have any experience with what it's going to be like here.

city new experience new-york

Women are just so much tougher and more patient than men are - their capacity for empathy blows me away. And their capacity to deal with stress for long periods of time is also kind of awe inspiring.

me women time men

2009 was crazy enough! I can't believe I worked with Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen, Marsha Mason, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, Jack O'Brien and Trevor Nunn in the same 12 months.

same crazy enough believe

I'm trying to go with the flow, which is not what I used to do. I used to try to micromanage my career choices.

try go choices trying

There's parts of it that I connect to - being a father and everything - but 'Mamma Mia!' allows me to go out there and be me and have fun. I've never really had the chance to do that with so much freedom.

me freedom chance father

My mom tells me the first show we saw was 'The Secret Garden,' but I don't remember that.

me garden mom remember

Before 'Giant,' I had only ever worked with Michael Greif, Michael John LaChiusa and Kate Baldwin in readings. It's really exciting to be blessed with the opportunity to work with so many I would put in the 'genius' book.

blessed work opportunity book

It was surreal to play opposite Angela Lansbury and Elaine Stritch, Bernadette Peters and Catherine Zeta-Jones. There was so much to learn just from watching them, and it was an honor to share the stage with women who have accomplished what they have.

women stage honor play

You hear about Broadway your whole life, and I learned what it meant to work on Broadway in 'The Phantom of the Opera.'

your you work life

I want to carry a show, but there are not a lot of leading parts for people who are not celebrities.

show who want people

Ugh - I wish I could just sit back and watch TV sometimes.

i-wish back wish sometimes

Obviously, I am a huge Matt Morrison fan, and I am a big Lea Michele fan because I know those guys from way back.

i-am back know way