Being a kid and growing up in Cleveland, the Tonys were how you saw Broadway shows: you got to hear from each show, and that's what inspired me to live my dream, so the fact that I am getting recognition from them, it's mind-blowing.
In '92, I got my first Broadway show as a performer - 'Crazy for You.' I was in the ensemble. In fact, I was in eight Broadway shows as a dancer. Seven of them were original shows. That's how I learned to create something from the ground up.
It's weird because we live in this age of reboots. Everything is getting rebooted: 'The X-Files,' 'Twin Peaks.' We have shows like 'Gravity Falls' that were inspired by these shows, that are now ending and being followed up by reboots of the shows that inspired them.
There's a mythical status to the Tony Awards. When you're growing up as an actor, you hear about Broadway and the Tonys, but it's not something you ever expect to experience.
I was one of those people who watched and videotaped the Tonys every year and kept a highlight reel every year. I saw every Broadway show as a kid.
When I was growing up, there were a few musicians who would have regular gigs at restaurants, and I always thought it was so cool and unexpected how they would spontaneously perform. Being the ambitious kid that I was, I got into it and really studied it. I was so inspired by it.
Tony Awards boost Broadway attendance and sell the shows on the road. They're the sugar to swat the fly. If you needed more explanation for the yearly ballyhoo, in the metropolitan areas where a Broadway show plays, the local economy is boosted by three and a half times the gross ticket sales. So when we're talking Tonys, we're talking moolah.
For me, I'm very visually inspired. I'm more inspired by photographs and movies than I am by listening to other music, so for me to create an amazingly intense visual live show is a dream, so I would love to be on that level for sure.
I got a letter from a mom, and she was telling me about how her daughter is a tomboy and the trouble she has in classes and being around boys. She herself had the same kinds of problems growing up and how inspired they were by me. That was such an incredible email to receive.
There were so many wonderful opportunities for me growing up in Cleveland. And whatever I'm doing in New York or Hollywood, I meet people from Cleveland.
I feel like I've been hit by a car every night, that's how I feel emotionally after The Race show. But it is a complete dream come true. For me growing up in New York all I ever wanted to do was Broadway.
A lot of the rap shows I saw as a kid were boring, but if you went to a Rage show or a Justice show, the kids were losing their minds.
Growing up, when I was at live shows, I was always hoping someone would come out on stage and say, 'The guitarist is sick and couldn't make it... does anybody know how to play all the songs?' That was always my little dream. It was a massively inspiring thing to be in a space with live shows.
When I got my start, I kind of got my big break with The Princess Diaries and during the press rounds for that everyone asked me: "Did you always want to be a princess growing up?" And the truth was, no I wanted to be Catwoman. And I think a lot of women feel that way. And the fact that I am actually her is such a dream come true. It's such a pinch me moment. And the fact that I am Catwoman in Chris Nolan's Gotham to Christian Bale's Batman is unbelievably cool.
I saw my first two Broadway shows when I was 4 years old, 'The Lion King' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' and after both of them I came home and reenacted the entirety of the shows on my living room table for my family and friends. I started doing that after every show I saw until I actually did my first youth production when I was 5.
I grew up watching shows like 'Martin' and 'Fresh Prince' and 'Moesha,' and I was inspired by all these shows. When I was growing up, there were so many black people in TV. That's just the world I was around.
That's been the dream since you were a little kid growing up. You want to be the guy playing in the Super Bowl. It's what you live for, really.