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" 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
Great
Time
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" 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. "
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" I kind of feel the career chose me. My motto has always been, 'Go where I'm wanted.' "
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" One of the best pieces of wisdom I ever got is you work because you work, meaning you work because you're saying yes to things, and you're connecting with people. "
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" 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. "
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" For a while, I couldn't get arrested in television because everybody thought of me as that guy on 'Trapper John.' So I thought, 'Great, I'll come out here to New York and do some theater, and when they get tired of me, I'll do something else.' "
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" 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. "
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" I'm not a pop singer; I'm not a jazz singer. And I know I sing like not a whole lot of people do; I also know that a lot of other people act like I do. And better than I do. But what informs the singing is the acting. They're not separate from each other. "
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Singing
" I love rearranging and reimagining tunes, so I want my audience to enjoy hearing songs in a new way and make their own discoveries. "
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Audience
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" I love the theater, and I just don't love television like that. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Theater
Just
Like
" I love being outside, and I love the fresh air. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Air
Fresh
Fresh Air
" You lose more than you win in life, and that's OK. That's the nature of life. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
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More
Nature
" Music is liquid. It's meant to be messed with and played with and stretched and pulled and pushed, I think. "
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" 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. "
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Life
Art
Experience
" 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
Mother
She
Sweet
" 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. "
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Living
Need
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" I think I just had it by osmosis: an appreciation of Duke Ellington before I really even knew who he was. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Just
Who
Before
" 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
Two
Jazz
Comment
" The first time I really had an influence on a show was during 'Ragtime.' It's still the most magical show that I've ever done. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Show
Magical
Time
" I love seeing the stars, and I love being around my friends and family. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Family
Love
Friends And Family
" Performing in the theater is a very ethereal profession because you do it once and it goes out into the ether and it goes into people's minds and that's the only place that it ever exists. And it never exists truly; it only exists in the way that people think they remember it. But it's a really powerful way to tell a story and to pass something on. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Story
People
Think
" I'd been playing the piano since I was 6 and wanted to be a composer, but I also wanted to be an actor. I decided to just pursue both and see which won out. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Playing
Piano
Just
" 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. "
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Finish
Home
Someone
" I think the problem is when people hear 'arts education,' they think, 'I don't want my son to be some painter that's going to be hanging in some museum after he dies. I don't want my daughter to be a struggling artist making no money.' People don't realize it's more than that. It's beautiful. It brings beauty to our lives. "
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Daughter
Beauty
Beautiful
" When I was 6 years old, I asked my parents for an organ. I don't have any idea why I wanted an organ. "
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Wanted
Idea
Old