Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNallyis an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth3 November 1938
CitySt. Petersburg, FL
CountryUnited States of America
mean sort written york
My first play was written when I was 23, and I'm 66 now, so that's 43 years of doing this where I sort of know where everything is. It doesn't mean I do everything right, but I know where everything is. Here, I'm very much a visitor. New York is my turf and I'm used to working with my actors.
certainty community theater york
The New York theater community is a place I know my way around in with some certainty,
oppression spoke standing time
It was a time of oppression and you spoke up -- and we won. Without you, I wouldn't be standing up here either.
fodder money network supportive treated writers
'American Playhouse' is very supportive of writers. That's really why writers like to write for 'American Playhouse' for very little money. They care about making your play, your script, not some network production. We're treated like playwrights, not like fodder for some machine.
people
With me, writing is 60% imagination, 30% people you know and 10% you don't know where it comes from.
core embrace passion quite trying turn understand
If you're trying to write something that you don't understand and embrace at the very core of you, it's not going to turn out with quite the authenticity and passion it should have.
written
This play was written for these 11 actors just as 'Master Class' was written for Zoe Caldwell, or 'Frankie and Johnny' was written for Kathy Bates,
bow british northern setting
I said if they wanted to keep the British setting in Northern England, then I will bow out, because that's not my lingo.
age audiences composers creation dance dancers golden great gym hope level life link looks mount order passion present reminds room side strongest talent technique theatre west worked
Chita Rivera is our strongest link to the Golden Age of the American Musical. She worked with all the great choreographers and composers and was present at the creation of such seminal masterpieces as The Dance at the Gym from West Side Story when the talent in the room was a veritable Mount Rushmore of the American theatre: Bernstein, Sondheim, Robbins, Laurents and Prince. I hope our show reminds audiences of what that level of theatre was like and what it still can be if the talent, the technique and the passion are there. Chita Rivera: The Dancers Life looks back in order to look forward.
age composers creation golden great link present strongest worked
Chita Rivera is our strongest link to the Golden Age of the American musical, ... She worked with all the great choreographers and composers and was present for the creation of such seminal masterpieces.
cheating responsibility creative
Cheating is not the American way. It is small, while we are large. It is cheap, while we are richly endowed. It is destructive, while we are creative. It is doomed to fail, while our gifts and responsibilities call us to achieve. It sabotages trust and weakens the bonds of spirit and humanity, without which we perish.
surprise projects turns
I like to surprise myself. I've always been attracted to projects where I don't know how they're going to turn out.
different actors toes
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.
heart school writing
I'm of the school 'Write what you know.' You can educate yourself, but the best writing usually comes from the heart.