Theater isn't there to provide answers. Only possibilities. I just ask the questions. But I believe hope comes from the fact that there is a potential for redemption. At the core, that's what matters in the theater I'm attracted to. Do we dare to hope? Do we allow ourselves to hope?

Joe Mantello

Categorized in : Believe What Matters Redemption

I think actors are brave souls that have to use parts of themselves that I'm just not comfortable doing anymore.

Joe Mantello

soul brave thinking

I understood that I was not the best director in the world nor the worst director in the world. I realized that there is a very mysterious element to what works and what doesn't work in the theater. And it's good to know that from the beginning.

Joe Mantello

elements directors world

I think, as written, 'Assassins' simply acknowledges the very human need to be acknowledged. As director, I've got to put aside any particular biases or prejudices that, as a moral human being, this is not an appropriate or acceptable way to get what you want.

Joe Mantello

prejudice directors thinking

I think good actors - good, collaborative actors who see themselves as leaders in a given production - can and should offer ideas that have nothing to do with wanting to direct themselves.

Joe Mantello

leader ideas thinking

I know there are different kinds of actors, but I tend to have less effective relationships with actors who have a very private process - who really need to do lots of internal work, so that I become merely a witness until they're ready to share.

Joe Mantello

actors different needs

But there is a process that happens when you're making something, be it a musical or a new play. That process takes time, and mistakes will be made along the way, and you will go down and hit dead ends. But it is so public now. Any yahoo with a computer can start a firestorm.

Joe Mantello

musical play mistake

If I hadn't gone into the theater, I would be a painter.

Joe Mantello

psychotic would-be gone

I was always rather outspoken. I worried about what people thought of me but there really wasn't room for a lot of self-doubt.

Joe Mantello

self doubt people

I like to hire the kind of people that I would want to be on stage with.

Joe Mantello

kind want people

I don't see the script as just a springboard for my interpretation. You do your best to serve the vision writers have - not by removing yourself from the equation, but by trying to filter what they intended through your artistry.

Joe Mantello

filters vision trying

I'm able to think more clearly when I don't have clutter and stuff around.

Joe Mantello

more think clutter able

I have a concentrated period of work for about five months, and then I take a bunch of time off. That's just the way I work.

Joe Mantello

just work time way

The way I feel about rehearsals is that the best idea wins.

Joe Mantello

about feel best way

I was a member of Circle Rep; I had done a little bit of directing there. I remember that I had a vacation from 'Angels', in which I remounted a play that I had done out of town called 'Three Hotels.' That's how I spent my week vacation.

Joe Mantello

angels circle vacation remember

I think that from day one, when it became clear that 'Wicked' was going to have a life, that we have set a standard for ourselves that we are never going to shortchange the audience; that every person that we put into that musical is going to be held to the highest standards; and that nobody is going to be coasting.

Joe Mantello

nobody day think life

My associate director, Lisa Leguillou, is remarkable: flying around, visiting all the companies. She is truly the unsung hero of 'Wicked'. She has been by my side from day one, and she is invaluable. I frankly don't know how she does it.

Joe Mantello

day know flying hero

As a director, you're incredibly proud when an individual steps up to the podium and is acknowledged for their work. But to have an entire company acknowledged, there is just no higher honor ever paid for that company - or for the director, for that matter.

Joe Mantello

you proud honor work

I do not resent Sarah Jessica Parker. We've been friends for decades. I just do not like what 'Sex and the City' did to my neighborhood.

Joe Mantello

city like friends sex

I was always the person in our class who was fascinated by new plays. I would go to the library all the time as new plays would come out.

Joe Mantello

new go library time

I want to do something very surprising next. I don't know what that is - something that has a high degree of risk.

Joe Mantello

high something know want