Michael Sokolove: "Volpe always tells the kids..."

"Volpe always tells the kids 'it's theater,' meaning something will always happen you don't expect. Lines missed, props missing, a costume change not made. It's part of being an actor. You don't panic; you just find your way back."

-Michael Sokolove, Drama High

Lou Volpe: "I think some of these..."

"I think some of these other schools, they're wealthier, and the families have more sophistication, but they really value their comfort. They're almost too comfortable. They want that feeling of security and don't want anything to rock the boat. A show like Rent raises questions about the world we live in, and they're not interested in that."

-Lou Volpe, from Michael Sokolove's Drama High

Michael Sokolove: "No one would tolerate..."

"No one would tolerate a science curriculum that glossed over the discovery of DNA, or even a high school football team that ran the old sing-wing offense and never threw a forward pass. But high school theater programs that draw material mostly from bygone eras are regarded as somehow quaint."

-Michael Sokolove, Drama High

Lou Volpe: "I'm not here to..."

"I'm not here to make you a great actor. That's not my job. The reasons you should be taking this class are far more important than learning to act. I want you to gain confidence, learn something about life, grow up a little bit. I want to help you see who you are."

-Lou Volpe, from Michael Sokolove's Drama High

Michael Sokolove: "Theater is a collaborative..."

"Theater is a collaborative exploration of the drama of the human condition, and those who are outsiders are often the best people to reflect on that."

-Michael Sokolove, Drama High

Lou Volpe: "I had to learn balance..."

"I had to learn balance, harmony, order, design, composition. I had to learn that all good theater is a process and you must go through it totally or an element will be missed somewhere, and the end result will be nothing more than mediocre."

-Lou Volpe, from Michael Sokolove's Drama High

Lou Volpe: "If all we had..."

“If all we had was a bare stage with one light bulb, we could still do theater.”

—Lou Volpe

Jane Fonda: "Wanted to make movies..."

“We wanted make movies that could appeal to an average audience — average Americans — and take them on a trip that they normally wouldn’t go on in terms of their consciousness. So you have to have characters that they can begin to identify with at the beginning... There was a message being delivered, but it was encased in a story that even if you didn’t buy the message, would hold you.

If you feel strongly about something, there’s nothing that can make you feel better than being able to embed your passionate feelings into a delivery system that is totally accessible by people who don’t agree with you.”

—Jane Fonda, in the bonus features of The China Syndrome