Every show is a mess at its first preview. No one’s had enough time to rehearse in costumes, traffic patterns backstage haven’t been worked out, machinery weighing thousands of pounds is being operated for the first time. And, also, it’s the first time all the material you’ve written is before the public. Maury Yeston Read Quote
Back in the Stone Age, before there were workshops, it was a very difficult idea to get into musical theatre. Normally, you would be a chorus girl or boy and write something. People would get their start as rehearsal pianists or dance assistants. Maury Yeston Read Quote
I am usually a pacer. I go to the balcony to check the sight lines way up there, to check the sound system to see how the balance is. Maury Yeston Read Quote
As we get older… I don’t know a single person who has devoted their life to musical theatre who hasn’t had a couple of misses as well as a bunch of hits. The misses, we learn a great deal from them. Maury Yeston Read Quote
Rodgers & Hart had a few flops before they clicked. You know, it happens. I don’t know anyone who always gets away with everything. Maury Yeston Read Quote
For me, when you are talking about perfect songs, you’re talking about Gershwin, ‘Someone To Watch Over Me.’ Or Larry Hart and Richard Rodgers. Or some of the great Cole Porter songs, whether it’s ‘Night and Day’ or some of the comedy songs. Or Irving Berlin, of course. Maury Yeston Read Quote
The extraordinary thing about Irving Berlin is that he’s like the American Mozart! It seems as if his songs were always there. How do you put together songs like ‘Always’ or ‘Cheek To Cheek’? Songs of his are, frankly, perfect. Maury Yeston Read Quote
I started playing the piano, pretty much on my own, when I was 5, and I started writing music when I was 7. In fact, I won a composition award. It was a crummy little piece, but I won with it. Maury Yeston Read Quote
Not every story in history has a beginning, a middle and an end, but the wreck of the Titanic does. It begins when they leave, in the middle it hits an iceberg, and in the final two hours, the ship sinks. Maury Yeston Read Quote
