I always say it takes three weeks to know a character and three months to own it. And I think that's probably true of every theater artist. If you really want to see a performance of the show, wait three months.
Brian Stokes MitchellRead
That's the magic of art and the magic of theatre: it has the power to transform an audience, an individual, or en masse, to transform them and give them an epiphanal experience that changes their life, opens their hearts and their minds and the way they think.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art and theatre can profoundly change perspectives and lives.
In this quote, Brian Stokes Mitchell emphasizes the transformative power of art and theatre, suggesting that they can evoke deep emotional and intellectual responses from audiences. He highlights how these art forms can facilitate significant moments of realization or insight, known as epiphanies, that resonate deeply and alter one's understanding of life, ultimately enriching their emotional and intellectual experience.
Themes
ArtTheatreTransformationEpiphanyAudience
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the impact of cultural events, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of the arts.
More from Brian Stokes Mitchell
All quotes →There are some projects where you have to just start doing it, and, after a while, the show starts telling you what it wants to be. You put your spirit in and, after a while, something bigger takes over, and it turns out to be much more fun and creative than what it was at the beginning.
Brian Stokes MitchellRead
One of the interesting things an artist does is they keep rediscovering things, whether it's a jazz piece or a role you've done for 3,000 performances or a song you're singing for the 3,000th time. My job is to find that spark that keeps it fresh and alive.
Brian Stokes MitchellRead
The older I get, I realize, 'Man, I'm a very rare bird,' and that's not because of necessarily my talent or ability; it so much depends on luck and just the grace of the universe.
Brian Stokes MitchellRead
Similar quotes
I think writer is a word without gender, and a good writer observes, absorbs, hopefully empathizes then translates that into character and story. You don’t have to do or be or have experienced, traveled to, but you have to imagine all of that, very well–and believe it completely during the bubble of the work.
Nora RobertsRead
I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said 'that's clever it's an anagram of art' and I had to pretend I'd known that all along.
BanksyRead
My method of getting a play across the footlights is like a revolver shooting: every line has a bullet in it and comes with an explosion.
George Bernard ShawRead
I write because to write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery. A thought was not there, then it is. An image, a story, an idea about what it is to be human, did not exist, then it does. With every new poem, an emotion new to the heart, to the world, speaks itself into being.
Jane HirshfieldRead
What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to position your body in the world for the world to celebrate you on your own terms.
Kehinde WileyRead
Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
Kurt VonnegutRead