A Quote by Ethan Slater

When I'm in the audience of Broadway shows, I feel like I'm in the presence of something really special with artists working at the height of their craft and doing the best work that they possibly can.
Though I acted in hundreds of productions, appeared at the Guthrie Theatre and on Broadway in Amadeus, I discovered in my thirties that I didn't really like stage acting. The presence of the audience, the eight shows a week and the possibility of a long run were all unnatural to me.
I feel like the more I work on different songs and the more I work on my voice constantly... I always feel better after I post a cover. Even if it's doing the little 15 second covers, I'm working on my craft, and it's really good for me, and I feel good after I do it.
I feel very proud of everyone I've worked with on 'SpongeBob' because they're all brilliant artists working at the top of their game to make something really special, and I think audiences feel that.
What I really love is touring on a bus with my band playing shows every night and feeling the audience, feeling the presence of people actually listening to my music. Feeding my soul is what touring feels like for me and I absolutely refuse to have a bad time doing something I really, really love.
Because even at the age of fifteen, I used to go see all the Broadway shows and feel that they were sentimental, that they were pandering to the audience and trying to manipulate the audience. I had no use for practically any of the shows that were hits.
Of course, I love the arenas; there's a great deal of energy and excitement playing those kind of shows. But there's something that's very intimate and very special about a small venue, where you really feel like you're almost getting to know everyone in the audience.
I felt that, as time went on, an audience gets to know you and in a weird way, you kind of feel like you get to know the audience a little bit. When I'm doing stand-up gigs now, I feel like I'm doing gigs in front of people I know. I think that's the result of doing late-night shows for so long.
I was on Broadway for three years with Spiderman and that amount of time spent on a show - it's a grind being on Broadway. The people that do that are probably the hardest working people. I shouldn't say that, because there's a lot of hard work that goes on in film and television, as well. That consistency of the grind of eight shows a week - I feel ready to go back to it now after having a bit of a break. I like to have the chance to jump between different art forms, whether it be theatre, film, TV, music. It's really wonderful to have opportunities in different arenas.
Some of my best friends have written Broadway shows. Allee Willis and Brenda Russell wrote The Color Purple which has been recently revived on Broadway. That to me is such a different hat that you have to wear, but music is music. A Broadway show is something I would love to have the opportunity to do.
There was something in Nick, becoming the Broadway star that he was and working from the age of 7, being on Broadway for four years, and then doing the music.
With solo shows, you have complete control over the set list. If you feel like you want to do something different or do a new song, you can just work it in. You can talk to the audience or not talk to the audience. There's nothing that's set.
I've always loved theatre because it's so immediate. The challenge of it is that, career wise, it's easier to get traction in the industry if you do film and TV because the audience is larger, and because the work can be seen for a longer period of time. I did solid work in a series of regional and Off-Broadway shows, but the work I did on TV or film will have a longer life with a larger audience (and with services like Netflix). Ultimately, there's something intimate about TV, because the storytelling and the actors come home with the viewer. It can be powerful because of that.
If artists want to have people come to their shows and buy their merchandise, they really have to make a commitment to those fans and bring the best music, shows and interaction that they can. This is something that won't change with technology or economy.
I had started doing small community theater shows in my hometown of Cleveland. I did a lot of shows there before I met this director who told me, 'Listen, I really think you could be on Broadway.' And I was like, 'No, that's crazy.' I didn't believe it... I was 9, maybe 8 years old at the time, and I was like, 'No. No way.'
I don't feel competitive with other filmmakers. I think we're all working to the same goal. When I see great craft, I don't care who's doing it, what network it's on, where they came from. I just love it and celebrate it, and I just worry about the work I'm doing and what's right for the projects I'm doing.
The live audience, just getting an instant reaction off of an audience is the best part[of the show]. Being in the studio and working on your songs and listening to them back and doing all that - it's a lot of fun, but having that instant reaction and being able to work and vibe with an audience is the best part.
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