"I realized no matter how famous you are, you're still human, and sometimes you need a chicken wing!"
"It's really empowering when you see yourself represented in entertainment and, especially, onstage when you're talking about how this country came to be."
"I play guitar; I can sing a little bit."
"We all have something in our past that is gripping us, and 'Violet' is very much about leaving those things behind."
"Everyone's got something that they've held onto from their childhood or from a past relationship, someone who's told you what you are, and it's leaving all that behind and living a happy life and realizing that a lot of that is inside you - really uncovering that. The story - those themes - are heavy themes that everyone can connect to."
"I love the idea of challenging what the standards is."
"I'm not Mr. Brooding."
"It's always relevant - moving forward into the future and finding out who you are. I think those themes never get stale."
"I went to the University of Miami."
"Being in the bands of a hurricane, it's not like a tornado that's going to pass very quickly. It's the most serious thing that you will ever experience next to, I'm sure, an earthquake."
"I remember being in my house from when I was, like, five to when I was, like, 12. When hurricanes would happen, you just hold hands, and you say, 'You know what, we have each other. We're praying,' and this roof can literally peel off of your house."
"I feel such a connection to 'Violet.'"
"I've done a lot of research about the Civil Rights movement, and I'm fascinated with how difficult it would have been for a black man to show feelings toward a white woman in that time period."
"I've certainly never liked the idea of being put in a box. I loved being part of shows like 'American Idiot' and 'In the Heights,' and I take pride in being able to sing different styles, not just 'Old Man River.'"
"I would love, love, love to do a comedy like 'Gentleman's Guide,' something farcical and fast-paced, but I also want to do something that hasn't been written yet: the story of Sidney Poitier. A lot of people tell me that I look like him."
"You wanna work with people who you have a rapport with. You finish each other's sentences a bit creatively when you've worked together for a while."
"Theatre is very cutthroat, especially here in New York!"
"'The Light in the Piazza' is one of my top three musicals of all time."
"I'd really like to do 'Floyd Collins.' I love Adam Guettel."
"I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. I left when I was three. My parents went to Miami, and that's where I grew up."
"I like directors who come ready to challenge you to ask the right questions about your character, and I know that directors appreciate that in actors as well."
"The themes in 'Violet' are universal: accepting yourself with all of your flaws, moving on, and the forgiveness and freedom that comes along with that."
"I think it's nice when you come into the room and the director has a plan, a vision of exactly what he or she wants the piece to be. Because when that happens, then you feel safe. You feel safe to make choices and to do something big and just fly because there's a structure around you."
"'American Idiot' was the hardest show that I've ever done - ever."
"I remember when I was rehearsing 'Scottsboro Boys,' I was in 'American Idiot,' so, every night, I was screaming, singing these high, belty Cs and Ds, and then, during the day, I would be doing these legato lines - I am very lucky that I have had the training that I have so that I could handle all of that."
