Quotes About Going On Stage

#1. I do admire Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, but I'm a philistine. I like the good life too much; I'm not good at going on stage night after night and on wet Wednesday afternoons.

Anthony Hopkins

#2. I certainly enjoy going on stage and lecturing and talking to Congress. That's a personality explanation. And given government proposals, I thought I had a clear view that they were antagonistic to human freedom.

Whitfield Diffie

#3. The idea of doing theatre always terrified me because I get terrible stage fright. In the early 1970s I was offered a panto but the thought of going on stage was just too mortifying.

Britt Ekland

#4. None of the original love and feel for going on stage is gone. I'm not a true singer. I'm performer, and I need to be on stage.

Mark McGrath

#5. It was the worst moment of my life. The producer came up and talked me back into going on stage.

Paul Lynde

#6. The worst years of my life were the first two years I was doing standup. You're learning how to do, and you're going on stage in front of two drunks and people aren't laughing and you're broke. That's a really hard time in your life.

Bill Maher

#7. When I was a child I wanted to be a petrol pump attendant. I suppose you have all sorts of thoughts as a child and at the time I figured that it was a way to avoid doing anything like going on stage.

Saffron Burrows

#8. I used to take 40 minutes to warm up before going on stage. If you want to spend time with your child as well as having a career, you have to get up there even if your head's a mess. It's made me more relaxed, and I'm having some of my best shows.

Idina Menzel

#9. As an adolescent, I was painfully shy, withdrawn. I didn't really have the nerve to sing my songs on stage, and nobody else was doing them. I decided to do them in disguise so that I didn't have to actually go through the humiliation of going on stage and being myself.

David Bowie

#10. I've always felt kind of safe on stage, protected. I've talked to other performers about this and they feel the same things, particularly in the live arena. I never get nervous going on stage to do a play. Doing film or television I'll have more butterflies.

Cillian Murphy

#11. I am always scared before going on stage; this is the fear which makes me do well.

Kapil Sharma

#12. Both my parents were working in politics when I was growing up, so going on stage was not that great a leap.

Casey Wilson

#13. I suppose I'm going on stage and making jokes about the fact that the audience are expecting the show to be about something and that they might learn something.

Andrew Lawrence

#14. The hardest part, for real, is probably when you just don't feel like going on stage and being funny.

Greg Giraldo

#15. Going on stage and transcending the audience and becoming this otherworldly thing makes you a dancer. It's not so black and white.

Misty Copeland

#16. I'm a bit of a contrarian, so I like the idea of going on stage without makeup, without the hair being done, in the jeans and shirt I've been wearing all day. At first that was an issue, because I didn't want to be disrespectful.

Lou Doillon

#17. Don't use barbiturates before going on stage. And be honest.

Nick Offerman

#18. The live aspect is so thrilling, I get nervous again. It's like going on stage.

Allison Janney

#19. That's the most comfortable place for me. In the beginning, yes, I was nervous going on stage. I was not a natural performer. I really had to acquire that skill.

Jerry Seinfeld

#20. Going on stage and doing ballet, for the first time, was even more verification of, "This is what I'm meant to do. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to make it somehow."

Misty Copeland

#21. There is nothing to be scared of in movies. It's a bit scarier going on stage.

Anthony Hopkins

#22. Ok so there's no TV shows, no movies going on fine, but I love going on stage and performing stand up so my situation is a little better than someone who's strictly just an actor or actress.

Wanda Sykes

#23. I definitely loved going on stage, I loved the nervous feeling and the performance and the doing-ness of it. It always felt kind of natural and inevitable and logical.

Sean Astin

#24. I was fooling everyone by surrounding myself with funny people. But then I put myself out there - writing my own sketches, going on stage with nobody surrounding me - and for some reason people were still laughing.

Carly Craig

#25. If you want to be a rock star, you're not going to just walk on stage. You gotta go practice in the garage until your fingers bleed. I always say that - the same with writing and the same with filmmaking - if it's really your passion, you've just got to stick with it and do it.

Robert Rodriguez

#26. Good diet and exercise are key, but abject fear has its own rewards. And arriving on the first day for rehearsals for 'Spamalot' and seeing all these much younger, much fitter people, who I was going to be on stage with, became a catalyst for cutting out the more unhealthy aspects of my life.

Sanjeev Bhaskar

#27. No matter what you're going through, as long as you have some specific emotion, whether it's positive or negative, it is all stuff that you can use on stage.

Reeve Carney

#28. You're so cute with your hair all gelled and spiky. You know, all I'm going to be thinking when you're on that stage is that I get to take you home with me tonight. - Jennah

Tabitha Suzuma

#29. The stage for our whole show is actually really interesting and a lot of fun. There's always something going on so we figure even the people who come up and don't know Big Time Rush love the show because there's always something going on, so that's what we love about it.

Logan Henderson

#30. I did karate for about three years. When I was going into Miss Texas, my mom said, 'Let's not do karate this year. Let's not have any knocked-out teeth on the stage.'

Sarah Shahi

#31. My family didn't like me going on the stage, and they didn't much like my being a writer, either.

P.L. Travers

#32. Death's not one of those things that frighten the life out of me. Getting up on stage with the curtain going up frightens me more.

Billie Whitelaw

#33. It gets lonely. I miss my family on stage. This might change one day. I'm certainly not going to say I'm not going to work with them again.

El DeBarge

#34. At a certain stage of misery, you'll try anything to explain what's going on with you, even if you know it doesn't explain a thing and it's one failed explanation after another.

Philip Roth

#35. I wanted to be a success on the stage, the screen, or the radio. So I saved my money and when I had bus fare and $16.82 over, I told my mother, Clara, I was going to leave home. She was heartbroken, but she believed in me.

Carole Landis

#36. That is one of the things about going on tour, that I get to work with some really talented people and it allows me to be able to listen to them as well - and just have fun on stage.

Joan Armatrading

#37. I received the most fantastic welcome to the Broadway Theatre community. I walked on stage to tremendous applause and a long standing ovation, wondering when I was ever going to be able to say my first line!

Elaine Paige

#38. You can either be on the stage, just a performer, just going through the lines ... or you can be outside it, and know how the script works, where the scenery hangs, and where the trapdoors are.

Terry Pratchett

#39. This is what I believe about performing: There is no reason to be on stage - there is no reason to be there - if you're not going to put all your baggage somewhere else and just be honest. Whatever you're doing - screw it up, do great - just be there, and be honest. That's the most important thing.

Michael Moschen

#40. I have now reached the stage that I don't care much whether I live or die. The world will still keep on turning without me; what is going to happen, will happen, and anyway it's no good to resist.

Anne Frank

#41. Drama made me happy. Being on stage made me feel alive. But I did what a lot of people do, and that's follow this path of leaving school and going to university. It was only at university that I realised the only thing that would make me a satisfied man was to do what I loved.

Emun Elliott

#42. Well, just coming off the stage and there's like 180,000 people out there and your adrenaline is going so high, and you're doing so much and it's hard to just put your head on the pillow and sleep because it just goes on and on, even after you're off the stage.

Jermaine Jackson

#43. I've now been doing this for ten years, and I actually got to skip a stage of going to casting directors, and now I meet with the directors, either for lunch or an audition room, and I still read sides; you're never going to get around that, but I'm not the best person to go on an audition.

Carly Schroeder

#44. And when I perform on my own tour, I have to talk myself into going out on that stage every single night.

Colbie Caillat

#45. The music, as predicted, blew big time. A live band was going to town up on stage, but really, how many times could they sing about could'a, should'a, would'a, and a dog before people's brains started to liquefy?

Nicole Williams

#46. When I'm out on the stage, it gives me this rush and anything that's on my mind and everything I'm going through is forgotten about.

Fantasia Barrino

#47. I really, really love what I do, and there's nothing I love more than getting on stage and playing for an audience or working on a part, getting in front of the camera, and meeting all the cool people I get to meet, and going all the cool places I get to go.

Drake Bell

#48. You can't enter the Olympics unless you do your routine to get in shape for it. The idea of going out on stage on a tour without having prepped for it would be suicide, literally.

Paul Stanley

#49. All art is autobiographical - if it's not, it's not going to quicken on-stage, and it's not going to come alive.

Constantin Stanislavski

#50. There are so many stage actors on TV but you wouldn't know they were stage actors. And film and TV actors are going to the stage as well, so the crossover is great now.

Matthew Morrison

#51. And I never forgot this as long as I've ever performed, no matter how crap I had felt before I went on stage. I just remember Tina Turner going up there, singing her heart out for everybody, and meantime she had a 102-degree fever and she was feeling terrible.

Bryan Adams

#52. Build patterns on time with God into your life when your worship leading ... Never let your time leading on a public stage eclipse what's going on with you and God behind closed doors.

Vicky Beeching

#53. I was very dramatic as a kid. I loved to entertain. I was taking my bathing suits and painting them black and putting sparkles on them because I thought I was going to be on stage.

Selena Gomez

#54. I go around with my books so much and I love to perform on stage, to remind everybody that the lights are off, the phones are off, and for this hour, it's going to be like your mother reading to you. We're going to remember why we love stories. I think that gets lost in over-intellectualizing.

T.C. Boyle

#55. Every day is Thanksgiving.On this stage you're going to hear God and none of them other words, and I ain't going to touch my stuff.

Al Jarreau

#56. I get very nervous whenever I think about it. I've never done a serious play, and I have such awe of the woman - she's really my only idol. It's going to be a big stretch - certain people come out on stage and your face muscles automatically tense and you get ready to smile.

Judy Holliday

#57. Whenever I'm waiting behind the stage, it's kind of like my normal Jackie mode is me talking a lot, playing around, but superstar Jackie mode is me concentrating on making sure that this performance was going to be a great performance.

Jackie Evancho

#58. Would you go to see a brilliant actor who's been framed for something that he didn't do, and put him on a stage and say he's going to do Hamlet for you, and why don't you enjoy it? That's a hell of an analogy, but it's about the same thing.

Jerry Stiller

#59. I feel bad for people who (don't have) faith because they don't have that blanket of comfort ... If I'm going out on stage, I always say a prayer right before I go out. Whatever it is. Before I take off on a plane. There's just always this connection ... God knows. I know. That's all I need.

Ted McGinley

#60. I never know what I'm going to say as I walk up to the microphone. I try to be in the moment. I try to go deeper into myself. I discover things on stage that I don't discover off stage about me.

Greg Fitzsimmons

#61. It's hard either way, at home or on the bus, I think the hardest thing probably for me is going one second from being mom to right out on the stage and having to be that person too. It's hard to switch gears.

Lee Ann Womack

#62. You can't go on stage and live - it's false all the way. I can't stand the premise of going out in jeans and a guitar and looking as real as you can in front of 18,000 people. I mean, it's not normal!

David Bowie

#63. People talk about stage fright, but what scares me is not so much the going on as the going off. I only come to life when people are watching. - Red Skelton

Douglas Wissing

#64. If I ever see another Shakespeare production where somebody drives a Jeep on stage, I'm going to run screaming up the aisle.

Terry Teachout

#65. Jake once said on stage that Jonny was the mighty in their storm, and now I see that Jake is my mighty storm. He's broken and complex, and no one knows him like I do, or ever will. He needs me. He's my storm to calm. And I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing just that.

Samantha Towle

#66. There's so much to learn! And just when we think, "I've got it. I really understand what's going on," we're shown a whole new stage set on which to play.

Richard Bach

#67. You know, we're not on stage, we're not doing a play, so we don't have a relationship with the audience but going through that process and also just hearing how much people love the film, you feel like you do have a relationship with the audience.

Virginia Madsen

#68. I can't believe Tina Turner actually was on the same stage. I can't believe I set foot on the same stage, and it's going to be an album, people are going to buy it, and it's going to be a video.

Brandy Norwood

#69. If you're going to walk into a scene on a stage, you've gotta know what room you just left and what just happened.

Jeffrey DeMunn

#70. I go on stage, it's like I'm leading you into battle; you are not all going to be here at the end.

Doug Stanhope

#71. What shouldn't you do if you're a young playwright? Don't bore the audience! I mean, even if you have to resort to totally arbitrary killing on stage, or pointless gunfire, at least it'll catch their attention and keep them awake. Just keep the thing going any way you can.

Tennessee Williams

#72. When they saw me walking down the street smoking a cigar, they'd say, 'Hey, that 14-year-old kid may be going places.' Of course it's also a good prop on the stage ... When you can't think of what you're supposed to say next, you can puff on your cigar until you think of your next line.

George Burns

#73. My nature is to get instant gratification. On stage, I can feel everybody's anticipation. I know what they want, I know what I'm going to give them, I know when I'm going to give it to them, I know when they want it.

Mike Tyson

#74. I think the World Cup is going to be bigger than what a lot of people are anticipating. At this stage in my career, when there is an opportunity, albeit a small one, of being on the team, what a great way to possibly end my career.

Al Leiter

#75. All the pundits and D.C. insiders thought I'd never be standing on the main stage. I am and I'm going to stay there.

Carly Fiorina

#76. When we were 15, my brother and I were getting really into Nirvana, Green Day, and The Beastie Boys. We started going to shows and realized we really wanted to be on stage.

Joel Madden

#77. I think if you're an actor, then you can work on stage - but if you've never done it before, you're going to have picked up a few things that you're going to need to change when you're working on stage.

Dominic Monaghan

#78. My persona on stage was always coming from a place of I know better than you and I'm going to be a little bit pretentious in your face with these sort of crass ideas.

Bo Burnham

#79. I think initially it's terrifying because going into a show where, you know, "Oh, I'm going to be on stage for two hours, I have no lines to memorize, I have nothing really prepared," and actually I say that, the show is not all improvising.

Brian Henson

#80. I imagined there must be hundreds and thousands and millions of people quiet in the dark out there, waiting with baited breath for me, up on that stage and bathed in colored lights, to say something. I opened my mouth and - hooray - they were going to listen.

Elaine Dundy

#81. I am just trying to die on the stage just as simple as that. I just like going in man. Just give it my all and enjoy it.

Wretch 32

#82. I'm an improviser at heart, when I'm writing, I'm improvising in my head. When you're an improviser on stage, you can never be precious about anything, you can't control what anyone else is going to do. The best stuff comes out of moments of inspiration that spontaneously happen.

Scot Armstrong

#83. When I write a play, my whole intent at bottom is to get the audience to be in the cast, to get that audience on stage with the actors and to get them thoroughly involved in what's going on.

Jules Feiffer

#84. I dreamt of going on the stage once," he said, looking crestfallen. "It's never too late," I said vaguely. A lie, of course, as often, unfortunately, it is much too late.

Kate Atkinson

#85. I left it for seven years before going back on stage. I know now not to leave it so long.

Ewan McGregor

#86. When I come out of my dressing room, I go to my heart and say a little prayer and go out on stage. There I am, coming to lift you up and to motivate you. I want to bring joy. It's gospel, and gospel is the truth. It's what I do. I'm going to bring you the truth and lift up your spirit.

Mavis Staples

#87. I like to take a puff or two before going on the air. I still get stage fright when I have to perform. A little grass gets rid of the problem.

Bob Denver

#88. The whole idea of comedy, there is nothing normal about going up on stage to make strangers laugh. But I'm also not an exhibitionist like other comics. I'm not up there talking about masturbating.

Jim Gaffigan

#89. It's a career that's enticing because you go on stage, for example, and people clap. You get that affirmation, but you can't go into acting for that because it's really your own self-belief that's going to get you through.

Miranda Otto

#90. It was not easy for my mother, being a struggling actress and raising a child. We were these two sort of vagabonds, never knowing where the money was going to come from. She always says she couldn't afford a babysitter, which is why she put me on the stage.

Christina Applegate

#91. Some audiences can shake and bang their heads on the stage to riffs all night long, but subtlety is an art that must be mastered if you're going to be remembered.

Robert Plant

#92. For me, comedy is constantly presented as this fake casualness, like a guy just walked on stage going, 'This crazy thing happened to me the other day.' And he's in front of 3000 people, and he's acting like an everyman, and he's getting paid so much money.

Bo Burnham

#93. My style is definitely schizophrenic; it does change from day to day a lot. It depends on my mood: sometimes I'll be going through a girly, childlike stage and wear a pretty lace dress with a bow in my hair. Then sometimes I'll be moody and just wear black.

Amber Le Bon

#94. One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep.

Anton Chekhov

#95. People don't know this, but I'm going through a lot every time I walk on stage, which is part of doing theater. That's why it's so addictive, I must say.

Ricky Martin

#96. I like to talk to the crowd on stage. I don't like going to a concert and feeling like the people on stage don't care whether or not I'm there.

Eric Hutchinson

#97. People have a hard time going to a club and seeing this business tool on stage that's wholly indicative of everything that rock is not. Rock is not about sitting in an office setting up documents, yet they see someone on stage doing that.

Keith Fullerton Whitman

#98. I always wanted to know, and I always used to daydream, about what it would be like to stand on a really big stage and sing songs for a lot of people, songs that I had written ... Daydreaming was kind of my No. 1 thing when I was little, because I didn't have much of a social life going on.

Taylor Swift

#99. I think anything that affects me in my personal life is going to help me be a better artist on stage.

Misty Copeland

#100. It's all very hazy to me now. I'm glad I made it through that stage. It got a little dicey. There were some drugs going on. I remember singing one song for about a day and a half.

Neil Young