Stars wide of belt often cultivated a gentlemanly grandeur, a groomed refinement that filtered through their fingertips - the dainty fidgets of Hardy's plump digits, Orson Welles performing magic tricks with nimble dexterity, Jackie Gleason lofting a teacup to his lips as if he were Lady Bracknell - or through a fine set of twinkle-toes.
I think there's a very fine line between the type of performing that some actors do, and being in a state in your mind where you actually believe what's going on. If we weren't actors, what would we do with that ability? Would we not be slightly insane? Mentally ill? I don't know.
Originally the dream was about traveling and developing a job that would permit me to travel. And I decided to go into street performing because it was a traveling job; it would let me go around the world.
One of the things I like about performing on the stage is that it is a kind of meditative experience. Time does stand still. You have no concept or feeling of the passing of two or three hours' time. It's all kind of one present moment, which is a kind of a description of meditation.
Performing is very much like cooking: putting it all together, raising the temperature.
Of all human inventions the organization, a machine constructed of people performing interdependent functions, is the most powerful.
I really enjoy theater. Performing live onstage is helping me to grow as an actress.
When I was performing the songs on 'Kiss Land,' it was a great singalong. But there were moments where I realized some parts were catchier than the others. There's maybe two choruses on all of 'Kiss Land.'
Performing doesn't turn me on. It's an egomaniac business, filled with prima donnas - including this one.
I was a dancer from about the age of four, so I was always performing and forcing my parents to watch my brother and I do 'Jesus Christ Super Star' in the living room. My first step was community theater, and then I started to do films.
We can't afford to let high performing talent just walk away from our companies without providing an opportunity to work through family needs.
I mean, there's definitely a difference between film and live performances or live television. But at the same time, it's just performing. No matter what, it's performing.
I love performing outside because it's as if the heavens are open and the elements become part of the stage show as well - you know, the wind and the rain and the thunder. It's almost as if there's a sense of invocation in performance.
Performing on stage is what I've done since I was a kid and it's where the passion that has started from the very beginning for me, and that's what I'm going to enjoy.
I was always drawn to performing. I took improv and acting classes during the summers and was involved in middle and high school plays. But when I discovered indie and punk music in high school, those things sort of took over.
Performing live actually thrills me. Just get me a stage, get me a mic, and I'm going to be happy.
I went to the High School for Performing Arts, and to Howard University on a talent scholarship.
No, we've been performing our old songs a little differently each performance.
I like the performing part, it gives me a huge rush but it still makes me nervous. Being in front of large crowds is intimidating to me and I feel myself withdrawing.
I think about Chicago as being a very actor-centered theater town, and people aren't in it to get to the next level, like movies and television. We're there for the love of the theater. So I think it fit right into my particular skill set, which is I love performing live.
I love intimacy, always, of performing.
I had gone to the High School of the Performing Arts in New York City.
I'll do about 13 shows in Branson next year, and I'll be performing at the Grand Palace.
Don't forget there are two sides to performing. Finding the truth, but you also have to be transparent enough for the audience to see it. How many times have you seen a performance and thought: 'Well, it seems to be meaning a great deal to you but it ain't coming across to me?' It is to be shared.
I was at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and I was performing at a show there. Jimmy Carter was going to be coming through with his Secret Service detail. The manager pulled me aside, and they didn't want me to shake Jimmy Carter's hand because they were afraid it would make the news if I stole from him.
The thing I miss about performing is being with people.
I think of myself as unconventional, I guess. I maybe always had a problem with authority, like a stubbornness about what's expected - despite wanting to get some recognition through performing - but also not always wanting to do the expected thing.
Music is my passion, singing, performing. I play piano and musical theater is my background.
I was just a ham since about the age of five. If I was performing at Medieval Times or something, I'd be the court jester. That was always my defense mechanism. I was never all that funny; I was just obnoxious and loud.
As a young writer, I learned a lot about grammatical structure from reading plays, from performing the plays. I think that was a wonderful apprenticeship.
As a teenager I was obsessed with music and with writing and performing songs.
When my job isn't performing in a WWE ring, my job is to get back performing in that ring. When I'm hurt, all I have to do all day is get strong and get better. I'm a very dedicated physical therapy patient, and that helps a lot.
I've got the sort of personality that requires me to find some sort of release, and for me, it's performing.
It was a dream come true performing with her and just being on the same record. So in my eyes, she was the epitome of a great voice and for us to share together was awesome.
The objective of the customer is not being met if the fund managers are diversifying their assets into hundreds of businesses. If they do this, they are typically performing close to the indexes. But that's not the way wealth is created.
I'm healed up and I feel great. After going through the fire, it's great to be out performing again.
