From its inception by Michael Bennett, 'Dreamgirls' has always been an epic story with an ensemble cast. I didn't change that. The screen version remains, really, a group story.
The large ensemble cast and the fact that it was being shot in New York, combined with a lot of strong positive images as far as African Americans are concerned, really turned me on to The Best Man.
I would be an actress for the rest of my life just because it's really relaxing. Writing is hard work, and stand-up is so stressful before you get on stage, but acting is a complete ensemble experience.
The ensemble playing is as clean as a whistle. The band plays in tune and with dynamics. Also, there is some fine arranging and orchestrating going on here, and the soloists perform at top level.
All conventional wisdom has an element of truth to it, but good design requires more than an element of truth - it requires an ensemble of correct assumptions and valid calculations.
When an ensemble is really tight or playing as one, it's a transcendental experience. It is spiritual. It goes beyond the ensemble. Ray and I and Robby and Jim were pretty tight, musically and spiritually.
Yeah, I love doing ensemble pieces. You get to meet so many new people and make new friends.
There didn't seem to be any musical boundaries around Vassar's creativity or abilities. He appeared to me to be right at home and just as articulate within a jazz ensemble as he was in his collaborations with the Blue Grass Album Band.
I just have always felt that I think we know that it's an ensemble show, and it's very hard to pick a show to submit when you're nominated, because usually everyone has a very strong part in every episode.
I firmly believe that 90 percent of the confusion that women feel when they are attempting to put together an occasion-specific ensemble is caused by fear: fear of breaking the 'fashion rules,' fear of violating some long-forgotten tradition, or the basic fear of looking bad.