2011 Tony Award Nominees "Cues"

Judith Light, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Lombardi, speaks about whether there was ever a moment when she wanted to give up theatre and why she didn't.

John Larroquette , nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, explains how he defines success in the theatre.

Victoria Clark, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role for her work in Sister Act, answers the question "Why Theatre?"

Forrest McClendon, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role for his performance in The Scottsboro Boys, discusses the experience of "making something together" on another clip from the SpringboardNYC Cues.

Stephen Adly Guirgis, author of Best Play nominee The Mothef**cker with the Hat, answers the question "Other than awards recognition, how do you define success in the theatre?"

Mark Rylance, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Jerusalem, talks about why he has never been able to quit doing theatre and why the desire to give up is a healthy part of any career.

The Book of Mormon's Casey Nicholaw, nominated for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography, shares how his experience in the original productions of seven original casts on Broadway has been the most important part of his training.

George C. Wolfe, nominated for Best Direction of a Play for The Normal Heart, discusses the theatre as a place where "intellect and passion and heart can live."

Rory O'Malley, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for The Book of Mormon, talks about the first time he felt he had achieved success in the theatre.

Cheri Steinkellner, nominated for Best Book of a Musical for Sister Act, talks about the first show she ever worked on.

Tony Sheldon, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Priscilla Queen of the Desert, talks about the first lesson he learned in theatre.

Sound Designer Brian Ronan, nominated for Best Sound Design of a Musical for The Book of Mormon and Anything Goes, reveals if there has ever been a moment when he thought about giving up theatre.

Producer Jacki Barlia Florin, nominated for The Scottsboro Boys and Jerusalem, talks about how hard it was to get Scottsboro to Broadway without any "big name stars."

Patina Miller, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Sister Act, talks about how her training prepared her to "be in the moment and be ready for everything."

Co-director and choreographer The Book of Mormon, Casey Nicholaw talks about meeting Mike Nichols for the first time and feeling that that meant he had achieved success.

Tammy Blanchard, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, talks about how, when working on Gyspy, Bernadette Peters taught her how to "cheat out" towards the audience.

Donna Murphy, nominated for Best Performance by an actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Roundabout Theatre Company's People in the Picture, shares why she would have liked to play Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.

Nominated for Best Play for his Good People, David Lindsay-Abaire talks about the first lesson he ever learned about theatre.

David Lander, nominated for Best Lighting Design of a Play for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, talks about the ever-changing nature of live theatre.

Colman Domingo, nominated for Best Performance by An Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical The Scottsboro Boys, talks about the most important part of his training.

David Yazbek, nominated for Best Original Score for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, whether he has ever considered giving up writing for the theatre.

Laura Benanti, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, talks about her best training experience.

Animal Trainer William Berloni (and special guest Oliver), recipient of the 2011 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, talks about following up after your first "big hit."

Joshua Henry, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical The Scottsboro Boys, shares advice he got from a college acting teacher.

Scott Pask, nominated for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for The Book of Mormon, talks about the show he considers a landmark in his career.

Stephen Oremus, nominated for Best Orchestrations for The Book of Mormon, explains whether he ever thought about quitting the theatre.

Brian Ronan, nominated for Best Sound Design of a Musical The Book of Mormon and Roundabout Theatre Company’s Anything Goes, shares the most important part of his training.

Robert Lopez, nominated for Best Book of a Musical The Book of Mormon, defines his success as getting the first reading of Avenue Q and shares why.

Beth Leavel, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Baby It's You, talks about wanting to play Mama Rose in Gypsy or a role in a dramatic Tennesse Williams play.

Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the American Theatre Wing, talks about the unique nature of theatre and how each moment can never be truly recreated.

Bobby Cannavale, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for The Motherf**ker with the Hat, shares how his best friend talked him out of his doubts about a career in acting.

Joe Mantello, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for The Normal Heart, talks about his one regret after stopping acting to direct is that he never got to play Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart. That is, until now.

Beowulf Boritt, nominated for Best Scenic Design of a Musical The Scottsboro Boys, talks about the importance of his liberal arts education.

Victoria Clark, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for Sister Act, talks about wanting to play a recurring character on a television show.

Jacki Barlia Florin, producer of Best Musical-nominated The Scottsboro Boys and Best Play-nominated Jerusalem, talks about the "need" to be involved with The Scottsboro Boys right from the beginning.

Patina Miller, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Sister Act, talks about her interest in originating a role and how she hopes to continue that in the future.

David Lander, nominated for Best Lighting Design of a Play for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, talks about the first show he ever worked on.

Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Baby It’s You!, Beth Leavel talks about the most important part of her training.

Laura Benanti, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, talks about the part she would most like to play but hasn’t yet had the chance.

Kathleen Marshall, nominated for Best Direction of a Musical for Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes, talks about her experience working with Susan Schulman, the first director she worked with when she was acting at the Pittsburg Civic Light Opera.

Larry Hochman, nominated for Best Orchestrations for The Scottsboro Boys and The Book of Mormon, reveals how he felt the first time he met Mike Nichols and Eric Idle when working on Spamalot.

Colman Domingo, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for The Scottsboro Boys, talks about how he (unexpectedly) came to play Billy Finn in a production of Chicago.

Peter Kaczorowski, nominated for his lighting designs for Anything Goes, talks about the most important part of his training.

Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Tammy Blanchard shares what her dream part would be.

Yul Vazquez, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for The Motherf**ker with the Hat, talks about the first lesson he learned in theatre.

Nikki M. James, nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for The Book of Mormon, talks about the most important part of her training.

Andrew Rannells, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for The Book of Mormon, talks about the "best roles" being "the ones [he] doesn't know about."

Scott Pask, nominated for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for The Book of Mormon, talks about the first lesson he learned about theatre.

Nominated for her performance in People in the Picture, Donna Murphy talks about why she does theatre.

Joshua Henry, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for in a Musical for The Scottsboro Boys, talks about a part he would like to be considered for but has never played.

Nominated for his direction of The Normal Heart (along with Joel Grey), George C. Wolfe answers the question “why theatre?”