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Brian Stokes Mitchell Quotes

Powerful Brian Stokes Mitchell for Daily Growth

My family's very, very mixed. I am, I guess, a kind of melting pot in a person.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Kind, Very, Melting Pot, Pot

I like being different people.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Different People, Like, Being Different

My father was a huge jazz fan, so I remember him playing Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, and Count Basie.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Father, I Remember, Jazz, Duke

I was raised on jazz. My father, from the time I was born, used to get up early on Saturdays and Sundays and put on Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Kenny Burrell, Sarah Vaughn, John Coltrane - all these great, classic albums.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Father, Jazz, Albums, Duke

I think I just had it by osmosis: an appreciation of Duke Ellington before I really even knew who he was.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Think, I Think, Before, Duke

Something is guiding my career; I don't know what it is. When I look back at my career, I call myself the most lucky actor in the world. It is all I have ever done. I do master classes, and I tell people not to use me as an example. I do not know anyone like me - not to brag - it is just very unusual.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Career, Lucky, Very, Brag

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.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Magic, Think, Give, Hearts

People comment on the way that I phrase. And in my 20s, I realized, my phrasing is jazz phrasing. I don't comply strictly with musical theater phrasing. Musical theater tends to be very one and three, and jazz is definitely two and four.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Jazz, Very, Musical, Comply

I always call myself the luckiest actor in the world because I made a living solely as a performer from the time I left home at 17 years old.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Living, Always, Performer, Luckiest

I kind of feel the career chose me. My motto has always been, 'Go where I'm wanted.'

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Career, Always, Been, Chose

Oddly enough, I almost never listen to show tunes. But there are some shows I love, like Adam Guettel's 'Floyd Collins.'

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Love, Some, Tunes, Floyd

Astaire was ballroom, basically, and Gene Kelly had such athleticism - that's always what I responded to and what just blew my head open when I watched Gene Kelly's numbers. But, Fred Astaire was just so incredibly inventive and so, so smooth - so smooth.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Numbers, Had, Kelly, Blew

'Ragtime' was the most magical show that I've done. I had an incredible experience with that, with the show itself, with the cast, with the audience. The response to that show - my God, it really blew me away, the reactions to that show, the way it changed their lives and altered their thinking, their own self-discovery.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Own, Away, Show, Blew

I'm one of the few lucky actors in the world. I've never waited tables. I never pumped gas. I've always earned a living. I never had to borrow from my parents. I was the first in our family to own a new car.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Lucky, Own, Pumped, Waited

I'm the chairman of the board of the Actor's Fund. It's an incredible organization. It helps anybody that has made their living in the performing arts and entertainment: actors, singers, dancers, film producers, agents, managers, ticket takers, writers, anybody in times of need or crisis.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Entertainment, Dancers, Takers

My mother was the first African-American policewoman in Seattle - recruited, actually - and she did it for only 2 years, as she did not want to carry a gun. She worked mostly on domestic disturbances. The NAACP wanted her to do it. She did not actually have the temperament to be a cop - she was very sweet. She had a Masters in social work.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Gun, Very, NAACP, Social Work

I gravitate to rhythmic music, so I listen to jazz, world music, Indian music, Hawaiian music, all kinds.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Jazz, Gravitate, Kinds, Indian Music

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 Mitchell

Artist, Alive, Role, Spark

I studied arranging and orchestration a number of years ago, so I have a home studio and arrange about three-fourths of my songs on the computer. Since writing orchestration is tedious, I often put an arrangement on the keyboard and let someone better-qualified finish it.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Studio, About, Orchestration, Arranging

I studied film scoring and orchestration and conducting and arranging in my twenties, and I scored a lot of television shows and other things.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Other, Scoring, Twenties, Arranging

I've been really fortunate that my concert career has taken off hugely. I can make a living. I enjoy performing in front of a live audience, and I can do something different every time. Sometimes I'm with a quartet, sometimes I'm solo, sometimes with a symphony, and I get to go to different cities and meet different people.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Career, Sometimes, Been, Live Audience

Years ago, I couldn't get arrested in commercials because of my look: 'Is he Jewish, Hispanic, or African-American?' I ended up doing voiceover work, which has been great. Honestly, I can't complain.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Doing, Been, Arrested, Hispanic

I like to capture the spirit of what the writers intended but find my own nuances. That comes from jazz - the invention and freeness within a structure.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Like, Within, Nuances, Invention

The first role that I played as a musical - I was 14 years old, and I played Birdie in 'Bye Bye Birdie.' That was an awakening of, 'Wow, I'm good at that. People are responding.' And I hardly knew what I was doing back then, but there was something that people were seeing.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Doing, Back, Role, Hardly

Everybody comes to the planet with certain gifts. It may be writing, it may be acting, it may be singing, it may be being a lawyer, it may be making a beautiful cabinet, it may be being a spectacular dry cleaner. It could be anything. We all have gifts in different areas.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Making, Everybody, May, Different Areas

You lose more than you win in life, and that's OK. That's the nature of life.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Nature, Lose, More, OK

I always like to talk about how important space is. Art is in the spaces. Anybody can sing a note; it takes an artist to sing the spaces. Anybody can paint a brushstroke; it takes an artist to know when not to put the brushstroke.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Art, Always, Note, Spaces

I'm having a ball on 'Glee.' It's a joy to be working there - the whole cast is so talented.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Ball, Cast, Having, Glee

Fear is destructive. Fear and creativity don't mix. Ultimately, it doesn't do you any good.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Creativity, Ultimately, Any, Mix

To me, a theater is a kind of a sacred space. It needs a kind of ceremony, like what happens when you consecrate a church.

- Brian Stokes Mitchell

Kind, Like, Needs, Ceremony

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