????你現場導演時有什么特別的領導技巧嗎？

????嗯，我有個信條，我叫它“全能的肯定。”排練時，我總試著肯定別人的想法。如果某人想嘗試新東西，我會說：“那我們就試試吧”，我想讓排練現場成為偉大想法的實驗室。因為我發現，最好的點子總是會以某種方式自動呈現在你眼前，而我從來不在乎，那個最好的想法是不是來自我自己。

????根據自己的經驗，我對領導方式的體會是，有時后，當你試圖控制某件事情的時候，就會收得太緊，反而扼殺了它的生長。

????這和我想的完全不一樣，我以為導演都是劇場的獨裁者。

????人們對老派百老匯導演和編舞的老一套印象就是，他們總是大吼大叫，還會把演員罵哭。但我從不相信，一定要咄咄逼人才能成功。實際上，我記得看到過一個說法：偉大導演的工作就是讓自己基本消失。如果每個人都覺得憑自己就可以做好，做到發自內心，導演就成功了。

????你是不是有時也得滿場奔波，扮演救火隊員的角色？

????那時我們在洛杉磯做《搖滾年代》的開發制作，能出岔子的地方都出了岔子，喝涼水都塞牙縫那種。我們排練的房子老是停電。本來燈光和提示都已經完成編碼了，一停電就都沒了。

????而且，就在同一個星期，兩個舞蹈演員進了急診室，舞臺經理離開了，道具經理撞車了。

????你是怎樣渡過難關的？

????我想我們只能盡力去做。失去某個雇員就得想辦法找人頂替他。如果需要新的發電機，那就弄一個來。如果某個舞蹈演員要離開，那就讓替補上場。時時刻刻記得自己最終的目標就好。

????當然，那幕音樂劇改變了我的職業生涯。這是我最享受現場戲劇表演的地方：首演之夜終將來臨，那時總有一種魔力使得一切各就各位。我想我有一種信心，所有遇到的問題最終總會得到解決。我知道，首演之夜來臨時，某種更宏大的力量便會接管一切，一切將無比美妙。

????Do you use a particular leadership tactic while directing?

????Well, I believe in something that I call 'the almighty yes.' I try to use the word 'yes' a lot when we're rehearsing. If someone wants to try something, I generally say, 'let's try it,' and let our rehearsal space be a playground for great ideas. Because I find that the best idea in the room has a way of being obvious, and I'm not concerned about the best idea in the room being mine, you know?

????I think I've learned through my own experience, with leadership, that sometimes when you're trying to control something, you're holding it too tight and it can't really grow.

????That totally goes against the image I have in my mind of directors being little dictators.

????I think there's this kind of school of thought when we think of those old-time Broadway directors and choreographers who made actors cry and who yelled. But I guess I've just never believed that you have to be aggressive to create a great team. In fact, I remember once reading that a great director's job is to almost be invisible. So that if everyone feels that they're making realizations on their own and it's all coming from within, then the director has really done the job correctly.

????Don't you also have to run around putting out crazy fires?

????So during "Rock of Ages," when we were in Los Angeles doing developmental productions, everything that could go wrong went wrong. The power kept going off in the building. So we would program lights and cues, and then we would lose all of them.

????That same week, we had two dancers go to the emergency room and I lost my stage manager and the prop manager crashed his truck.

????How did you get through it?

????I think we just dealt with whatever we could at the moment. When you lose an employee, you deal with it. If you have to get a new power generator, bring it to the theater. If a dancer needs to be out, bring in an understudy. Moment by moment, keep your eye on the prize.

????And of course, that show ended up changing my career. Because this is my favorite thing about doing live theater: you're always going to have opening night and there is a power where everything ends up workingout. So I think I have a certain kind of confidence that any problem that might come up will have a solution. And I know that when we get to opening night,something greater than us is going to take over and it's going to be magical.