This is one of my lesser moments, and one I'm not proud to admit to, but there's always a time I feel the need to have control over the process and try to defend the song from the person I'm writing with. It never, ever helps and always causes problems.

Robert Lopez

Categorized in : Feel Problems Song Time

Filipino pride. I'm so excited, I'm just sending love to the Philippines. I know they've had a tough year and I just send out my feelings to them.

Robert Lopez

pride feelings years

I basically never feel like writing. I am a happy-go-lucky, relaxed, fun-seeking kind of person. And working disturbs that, because it puts me in a state of anxiety.

Robert Lopez

anxiety writing fun

I only like to write shows that I feel like no one has seen before.

Robert Lopez

shows writing feels

It's very hard to go from the intense self-criticism you need to have during previews to all of a sudden letting go of it and trying to enjoy the moment, but I'm doing my best and I'm finally beginning to relax a little bit.

Robert Lopez

relax letting-go trying

I like to think my sense of humor is sort of smart and dumb at the same time. I like to work on multiple levels - smart and dumb, funny and sad, profound and mundane, cynical and hopeful.

Robert Lopez

smart profound thinking

I think one of my favorite productions ever was Sondheims Assassins at the Roundabout in 2004. Beyond brilliant.

Robert Lopez

assassins brilliant thinking

Whenever Disney asks if you want to do a fairy tale musical, you say yes.

Robert Lopez

fairy-tale musical want

If you're doing a musical, you should be out to give the audience something special, emotional, an uplifting feeling, something that stays with them.

Robert Lopez

emotional uplifting giving

Every time I see a film or TV show, I think about how that composer made those choices and how that director envisioned music and how that could work onstage or in a film and how you could support that even further by putting lyrics to it.

Robert Lopez

tv-shows choices thinking

I'm not an advocate of true rhymes, I don't think. I think that everyone who writes musical theater needs to know how to do true rhymes, because that's the tradition of it, but I do think that in order for the art form to grow, it's important to not let tradition get in the way of innovation. There's all kinds of reasons not to use true rhyme in a lyric, like with off-color humor.

Robert Lopez

writing art thinking

She needs to find her purpose, she needs to take this dangerous journey to get there, and it's going to threaten everything. She has to do it for her kingdom and for herself.

Robert Lopez

company-news

In 'Winnie the Pooh,' a lot of the characters have serious flaws: Pooh is sort of a food addict. Rabbit is OCD, and Owl is a compulsive liar.

Robert Lopez

liar flaws serious food

The temptation to quit and start over infects every creative process I've ever been in. Frustration and boredom always fuel this self-doubt.

Robert Lopez

start frustration creative process

I admire 'Urinetown.'

Robert Lopez

admire

With comedy, the jokes will come out, and people will see them coming. Changes in daily life or current events can change the consciousness of audiences and can make the show less funny or feel more stale.

Robert Lopez

daily change life funny

I don't know if I have good habits, but I'm very devoted to writing. I'm very compulsive about having a project, at least one, and trying to follow the business as much as I can. I keep on top of all the entertainment business news.

Robert Lopez

good news business writing

People try not to think about what's going on in sub-Saharan Africa. They edit it out of their daily lives. Especially Americans. We prefer a fantasy version of Africa.

Robert Lopez

daily think fantasy people

I am never excited to play through a song all the way, because it can reveal more flaws that mean more work. For some reason, I always have an irrational fear that the song will never be finished.

Robert Lopez

i-am fear work song

I'm not really a 'puppet' person in particular; I think they are very theatrical, and I've found different uses for them in shows, but my true interest is in writing Broadway musicals.

Robert Lopez

true person think writing

The things that I have done that haven't been as successful have been things that have been largely out of the public view, which is great. It's terrible, when you're a theater writer, to have a big flop publicly.

Robert Lopez

view great you done