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When I'm making a film, I'm the audience.

You have to be aware of who you're talking to in an audience.

I don't think shoving my butt into people's faces will tell them anything about who I am. How is that connecting to your audience? What is that doing for your music?

'Nicholas Nickleby' was the best example, where 43 people could make an audience of 1,500 look at a fingernail at any given moment. It was so controlled, and yet it was a group of disparate individuals. It was a happy, constructive time, and it seemed to be an active discussion of what makes the theater work.

I've always been really involved in figuring out who my audience is and how to reach them.

On one level, I must never lose touch with my audience. But I must, at some point, stop trying to get everybody to like me, and be true to the thing I think I need to say.

You can't second-guess your audience. You can only do what you think is right. If you do that, your audience will appreciate you.

I guess my idea of a good audience is one that's quiet and listens, but also that's alive: they respond, they're getting the jokes, they're with me. And that' s been happening.

Like I always tell people, I don't pander to any audience, but you have to play to your audience.