Smile at a stranger. See what happens.

The word diva to me means doing something supernatural with something natural.

I played the tuba in high school. I wanted to be a member of the marching band. I thought, what can I play that has the most effect? What can I play to get people to laugh?

I think Madonna is a wonderful performer.

Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we're all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.

I'm totally Italian, but I'm not a diva. If you could see the way I'm dressed in daily life, that's not a diva. Appearances are so not important to me.

A show is exhausting when it stinks. It's exhausting when you have to work overtime to make something work.

A well-rounded performer will listen to all kinds of music. I like classical, Middle Eastern, and rock a lot.

I just create, that's what I do.

I just love chickens.

I learned a long time ago from David Mamet to wipe your feet at the door, get it out on stage and then go about your life.

The theater is a tough place. It's not cushioned the way it is in film and television.

To be nominated was enough, but when I won I the Tony I just felt relief.

We're not show-business people. We have a life.