I was always very grateful to 'em and am grateful to 'em now. I went back a couple of years ago and did their 20th anniversary show. But the longer I stayed on Hee Haw the worse things got for me musically.

After my second-to-last record 'The Greatest' I had gone on tour for a while and I didn't play an instrument for about five years. And I got kind of - it's not self-esteem or whatever or anger toward myself - but disappointed in myself that I hadn't been challenging myself to learn musically.

I do think musical-theater actors can get a bad rap and I see why. There is a certain slickness - there's nothing better than an amazing musical but an okay musical can be one of the worst times you've ever had.

When you're doing the traditional musicals singing songs that are 40 and 50 years old you realize there's a reason why those musicals are hits. These are amazing songs!

I thoroughly enjoyed working on Enemy of the State. Tony Scott is an important director and has an amazing ability to express himself and he doesn't do it in musical terms he does it in emotional terms. I got along really well with him.

I knew I'd just done one of the most amazing things that I will ever get a chance to do. Just to be part of a musical that's not your background and to pull it off and to think that we've done something that's really special.

I've created directed and choreographed for Lady Gaga since the beginning so 'Born This Way ' this was musically such an amazing evolution and such a brilliant record. So when she played it for me it took me a while to find out the visual interpretation that I could give back to her.

I'd do pretty much anything to get back on stage. I'd like to develop a new musical. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that they're developing John Waters' Cry-Baby because that is so amazing and super and wonderful and I wish that I could be involved. But it's not the right time and I understand that. But I hear things like that and I get that little tingle in my stomach.

Strangely enough when the Sugababes' 'Freak Like Me' went to number 1 which was built around my 'Are 'Friends' Electric' song I had another song called 'Rip' go to number 1 in the Kerrang TV chart so I was pulling new people in from very different areas of musical interest. That was quite an amazing week.

It was an amazing adventure it was my dream to be in an American musical... I really hope you are going to love what you are going to see.