tony-award-winners

"I never knew there was a purpose for girls with loud voices until I discovered musical theater."

"It's not just about what other people do. It's about you, too."

"To be held in esteem by other people is, for me, a humbling experience."

"I didn’t think about my children being Black children; I think of my children being children"

"inner reality creates the outer form"

"There was something about going through a pledge period with other young women who you really didn't know very well"

"in your own thought, you create opportunities and obstacles"

"fame and fortune must be corrupting"

"The ethnicity is obvious — it’s in our food, it’s in the music we listen to, it’s in the books we read, it’s in the way we live, it’s in the company we keep and the dances that we do"

"there's nothing noble about keeping one's self small"

"In mothering, I didn’t think about myself as being a Black mother. I’m a mother"

"I know who I am"

"The internet has given a lot of anonymous people a very loud voice"

"I grew up in a time where these things begin in childhood—your grandparents, aunts, uncles, your own parents, the teachers in your classrooms"

"Well, you can respect people. But can you depend on that person? Can you trust that person? And can you be depended upon and can you show up?"

"If you are able to embrace your challenges and put them to constructive use, that’s where magic can happen"

"In light of that ... I knew I had to utilize my time very effectively and efficiently to get my work done"

"In the final analysis, our humanity was front and center"

"I needed for him to see me applying myself, so that hopefully the example I would set for my 3-year-old son would translate into his educational desires later on in his life"

"It knocked me sideways for a second"

"It was not an affirmation for my ego. It was just an affirmation for who I was, as a little Black kid in this all-white elementary school"

"And the manner in which I communicated that to the producer—and he agreed, by the way—was not as diplomatic as it could have been. And when one, as I was in this particular case, is being paid a lot of money to be in a project, to come to the producer and express dissatisfaction with the material, that can be seen as an affront"

"I remember there was a newspaperman who sunk a lot of Denver Post money into getting that theater off the ground"

"So here is this little Black kid who all of a sudden is in school with these white kids, and the parents of those kids are looking at this little Black kid"

"I had to have faith in the strength of the work"

"I needed my son to see me put the work in. I needed to set an example"

"I will not allow those things to define who I am. Because I understand I am bigger and better than that. And each and every one of you are also."

"Entering into State, I was going through certain professional challenges and frustrations in my career"

"I knew that when I started directing for film, I wanted to make sure that the narratives resonated for me,"

"What that meant for me: It meant bringing everything — every single thing that I had accumulated at that point in my life, in terms of my professional experience — and focusing it into my studies at San Francisco State. It was not always easy"

"and the fact that even though it's not a meritocracy, that the work would shift my position as a creative worker to a place that it would mean something beyond itself"

"People need to be aware that at the best of times, the infrastructure in Jamaica needs a lot to be desired. So for an island like Jamaica to suffer this kind of a tragedy is even more devastating"

"My introduction to Spike – our introduction to each other – unlocked a door for me creatively and culturally that I simply would not have had in the same way"

"So I ended up speaking with this young man, and one of the things I said to him is that I am first and foremost thrilled and blessed to continue to work, and to be working on important projects. I know it’s a really hackneyed, overused term, but it’s true for me: I am thrilled and blessed."

"To me, the enduring cultural significance of this film is that it is incredibly affirming, and it makes me joyous that that’s pretty much what audiences have picked up – White and Black, across the board"

"And what I would ask is that however people are responding to the tragedy of Hurricane Melissa, that they would do whatever they can to help find out which organizations can help. I’m personally aware of an organization called Breds. They are based in Treasure Beach, but there are other organizations, and I would just ask, please, please, please donate whatever you can because obviously the need is huge. Had Melissa not happened, there would be significant need in Jamaica. That’s the nature of the economics of Jamaica. This tragedy has just exacerbated everything, so please give what you can"

"If I said it, I believed it, and I’m sure it had to do with my ambition to elevate myself and to be part of a system of work that elevated Black performers"

"When I think about my films with Spike, and then with Ryan, here I am at a point in my life and my career where I can look back and say: ‘My God, how fortunate am I to be part of that firmament, part of that creative environment"

"I had gone to Denver full of optimism and enthusiasm. I remember a gentleman there saying something to me like, ‘Oh, you should be doing more in this production.’ And I thought, ‘You know what? I agree"

"For some reason, I have the figure of $13 million in my head"

"I approach the work attempting to find out who this human being is. Because of Delta Slim’s history, because of his virtuosity, and because he has lived — because I have lived the years that I have lived, I have a history. All of those things connect to the larger story that Ryan wants to tell in terms of where and how the blues music is situated inside of American culture"

"I’m inspired. I’m inspired because I look at a film like that, and I say, that cannot have been easy for her to get that film made. And so the challenges that I face getting my film made, it inspires me to keep moving, to keep moving forward, to keep striving. Because … there are so many stories that do not get told. And I was speaking with some film cinema students and I was saying that despite the fact that the landscape of cinema — and let’s for a second just talk about American cinema, the landscape of American cinema, I’m not going to say it’s narrow, but this is what I will say — there are so many other stories that could be added that could be contributing and be part of the landscape of American cinema. And one has to — and this is part of my appreciation for ‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,’ and it sounds very clichéd — but one has to have believe. One cannot lose sight of one’s own belief, more so in the face of the rejection that invariably one will face"

"The artistic director – Edward Payson Call – was very enthusiastic about me as an actor, and it was the inaugural opening of this theater company and three beautiful new theaters"

"but I'm still believing in myself, man. I am. I'm not being defined by my circumstances."

"I’ve always considered Tyne Daly to be a very serious actor, and I mean that in the best sense of that term"

"The Long, Occasionally Dark, and Ultimately Triumphant Career of Delroy Lindo,20 April 2021"

"I will not allow those kinds of disappointments, those kinds of snubs, rejections"

"But what I can also tell you is that I had to pick myself up and keep moving forward"

"Going to Denver was terrific, and I very much looked forward to being there"

"She’s very committed, and I remember the manner in which she applied herself to her work was always extremely intentional, and very much about the business of doing the best work possible"