In Those Days, You Had To Like

I'm Of The School 'write What You Know.' You Can Educate Yourself, But The Best Writing Usually Comes From The Heart.

I've Had Wonderful Collaborators. They're Very Different, Just As Actors Are. Working On A Show With Nathan Lane Is Different From Working On A Show With Chita Rivera. It Keeps You On Your Toes Because It's Different Every Time.

Young People Have Got To Start Their Own Theaters, Really. All Good Theater Is A Kind Of Mom-and-pop Operation. Start Your Own Theater.

Whenever You Think You're Writing What Other People Want To Hear From You, And That It'll Be Commercial, You're Doomed To Disaster. Writing Has To Be As Truthful And Specific As We Can Make It. The Minute We Think That We're Reaching More People And Pleasing Them, We Get General. And Audiences Sense That And Turn Away, Shun Us.

I Don't Think I've Ever Written Anything Even Remotely Naturalistic. The Closest Probably Would Be Seen As 'frankie And Johnny,' And That's Only 'cause They Eat A Sandwich And Make An Omelet In Act Two. But It's A Romantic Fairy Tale, And I'm Very Aware Of That. I Don't Think It Helps The Actors In My Plays To Lose Themselves In The Reality Of Talking To Another Person. A Good Mcnally Actor Always Knows He's In A Play With An Audience.