Alice Ripley

“'Next to Normal' has challenged me as an actor because of how complex Diana is. And that's got me hungry for another character like that in a non-singing role because it would be interesting to express that same intensity in a different way.”

“I was in the original cast of 'Sunset Boulevard.' I played Betty. But I wasn't on the cast album.”

“Norm Lewis, who plays Jake in 'Side Show,' and I had a song together in 'Tommy,' and I understudied Mrs. Walker.”

“'Tommy' was my first Broadway show. Long Pause. I don't know how you can surpass the excitement or get more excited or feel more on top of the world than when you are sitting in a room singing The Who, and Pete Townshend is sitting there tapping his foot.”

“When you're 20 and you're in acting school and your teachers tell you that 95 percent of actors are unemployed for twenty years, you think it doesn't apply to you. But it does take twenty years to become real, because that's what you have to do to be an interesting actor.”

“When it comes to your creative life and what it's going to take, you will do a disservice to everybody if you just dabble.”

“I love New York City. I really do. I 'heart' New York.”

“I play the guitar every day.”

“The musicals on Broadway have not necessarily been true musical theater. I'm speaking generally, of course: I saw 'Spring Awakening,' and I was completely inspired by that.”

“When everything kind of hit the fan, my dad married Jo Anne, and suddenly there were five kids from the Ripleys and five kids from the Doughertys. Then my dad and Joanne had a baby. I usually have to make a diagram.”

“Oh my God, I love Max von Essen.”

“I take musical theater seriously.”

“I think I enjoy Sondheim so much because of the lyrics. The lyrics, the cornucopia of options.”

“It's nice to be in a smaller room. I like the big arenas as well, but at my core, I'm a live performer, so it's nice to be able to feel the warmth of everybody in the room.”

“'American Psycho' reminds me of my track in 'Tommy,' my first Broadway show. It's similar conceptually and has that rock n' roll streak.”

“It's heartbreaking to see theater people be forced to accept the business side of show business.”

“The audience fills me back up, definitely.”

“When I did 'Rocky Horror,' I didn't want to meet the audience afterward, because they'd been having a good time yelling names at me all night, and I didn't really want to tell them that I didn't have such a good time being yelled at all night.”

“I love every minute of my work.”

“I'm kind of a double middle child.”