I'm going to take the kids away over Christmas but I don't I've written 14 musicals now I don't want to rush into doing something just for the sake of doing it. I want to do it when I find a story.

I got picked on a lot even by teachers too. I liked to listen to musicals and bake and my homeroom teacher found out and mocked me in front of the whole class for baking.

I loved old black and white movies especially the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals. I loved everything about them - the songs the music the romance and the spectacle. They were real class and I knew that I wanted to be in that world.

I'm doing 'Les Miserables ' the movie. I've done a lot of musicals and a lot of movies and I know there are not a lot of people in Hollywood who have been down those two paths so I've been like 'Come on let's do a movie/musical.'

I was very influenced by the musicals and romantic comedies of the 1930s. I admired Gene Harlow and such which probably explains why since the end of my marriage I've dated nothing but a succession of blondes.

Musicals are by nature theatrical meaning poetic meaning having to move the audience's imagination and create a suspension of disbelief by which I mean there's no fourth wall.

When you're young you want to make every kind of film: musicals Westerns horror. Slowly you begin to hear your own voice. I hope people receive what I do as small personal films that are somewhat contrarian about their main characters.

No writing musicals is the hardest thing in the world. And it was really funny because I remember when the South Park movie came out there were some critics that said 'Well it's obvious that in order to get it to be 90 minutes they filled some time with music.'

Sometimes I like to play the soundtracks to famous musicals so we can all sing along. South Pacific is one of my favorites. Our neighbors must hate us.

Maybe I'm old-fashioned. But I remember the beauty and thrill of being moved by Broadway musicals - particularly the endings of shows.