Quotable Quotes: Opening Night Thoughts on the Eccentric Tuner In My Life

WHAT: Opening night of Joseph Brooks's new musical extravaganza In My Life, which concerns earthbound young lovers and the heavenly forces that guide their lives

WHERE: Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Hotel

WHEN: Thursday, October 20, 2005

"In My Life really offers people a chance to laugh and to cry…and it's better than Cats." —David Turner, who plays Winston

"We have opera, we have comedy, and we have...everything…. It's very loving and warm."
—Young Chiara Navarra, who plays Vera

"It's hard as I think back….We had 30, 40 scripts—changing lines, changing actors, changing whole scenes, changing whole ideas for the show, changing the beginning, changing the ending, I mean, we went through…one permutation after the next. It was quite amazing." —Director/writer Joseph Brooks, on the creative process behind the show

"The thing that strikes me most of all [about the experience] is that it's just been wildly collaborative. Joe [Brooks] set up a rehearsal room where we could all just dig in and play together, and we've had a great time. So we really all feel kind of responsible together, like we created this all together." —Jessica Boevers, who plays romantic lead Jenny

"I think [Joe] wants you to be humming his melodies… and they are hummable. I think he wants people to be entertained, and to realize that there's forgiveness, that there's love, and that it transcends what happens on earth. But you have to ask him." —Roberta Gumbel, who plays Liz, on Brooks' goals with the piece

"[Joe's] always said, as sort of a mantra, that he wants to make people laugh and cry, and not necessarily in that order. [To] make people feel and have a catharsis experience. I really think he wants to just move people with the story he's trying to tell, and it seems like it's working." —Cast member Michael Halling, on his director's intentions

"I think it's about acceptance, that everybody has their own preconceived notion of who God is… The point is, there are strange things, strange people, all walks of life, and you just never know. Sometimes it matches, it works, and life can be pretty good. I think it's really a simple message—Hey, life's great. Don't let it pass you by." —Michael J. Farina, who plays Al, on the show's message

"[It's a] simple, sweet, loving message, and what a perfect time. We need that." —Christopher J. Hanke, who plays J.T., a singer/songwriter with Tourette Syndrome

"He's an enigma. Winston is equal parts Boy George, Bea Arthur and Daniel Davis. Winston was a very collaborative process. I have Cathy Zuber to thank for the look of the costumes. Tom Watson, who did the wig… Actors talk about being possessed by the design, and that's exactly what happened to me." —David Turner on his one-of-a-kind character

"We make fun of ourselves, which is great." —Christopher J. Hanke

"I'm glad to hear I'm being upstaged by my wig. That's not what you're saying right? Just checking." —Laura Jordan, who plays Samantha and sports a funky hairpiece

"They're trying to bring back the mullet." —Michael Halling, on his character's hairdo

"The songs are beautiful, and they're highly singable. He [Joe Brooks] knows very well how to write for the voice. Nothing's too high, nothing's too low, they just really sit where the voice should be." —Roberta Gumbel

"Joe [Brooks] is really interesting in that he's worked on a lot of film and he's worked in a lot of different mediums. So as much as he had a clear vision, he also was very much into discovering it as it went. So he brought us one text and we came up with a very different one. We just all sort of watched it appear in front of our eyes. None of us knew what this show was until we began previews." —Jessica Boevers

"I think we're all surprised, frankly, not that people have enjoyed it, but just that it's had the kind of response that it has, because we didn't know where it was. There's a lot in it, there's a lot of different styles and a lot of different ideas and a lot of eccentric things that, you know, jointed together, we didn't know what would come out. I think we found the best of what we were able to find, and we're all really proud of it." —Michael Halling

"It's just so fun to go out there and play the game of make believe." —Chiara Navarra

"I think it gives you hope that you can find somebody and that heaven is a fun place, where people are having a good time, and that we can all find love. That it's out there for everybody. You just have to keep your eyes open and keep your mind open, and it'll happen for you too." —Laura Jordan

"It's so modern. It's so quirky and fresh and very unique… What Joe [Brooks] has done is that he's created this love story and then he pulls the rug out from under you, and you go to this other world, and then you come back to the love story so that you desire it even more, to see these characters flesh out their desires and their troubles and their love for each other." —Christopher J. Hanke

"It's a story you've never heard before, which is saying something because most plots are so hackneyed now. It's unlike anything you've ever seen." —David Turner

"I couldn't have put anything else into this show. It's the best score I could do, the best words I could write… Everything I have is up there. And now I'm gonna take a long rest." —Joseph Brooks

"The flying was terrifying at first. You look down and there's nothing but your toes and the stage. Now, it's a dream. This whole show for me has been just checking off the list of childhood dreams. I can just kind of move to Connecticut after this." —David Turner

Interviews by Paul Wontorek
Compiled by Lyssa Mandel