My favorite moments are watching everybody else get up there and perform. The show has been phenomenally cast, and the songs are so much fun to act and sing—the kind of rock and roll songs that you reach down in your crotch for. The trick is to have to do that eight times a week.

There's no dressing room time at all for us.

[The cast sings its lungs out in the joyously arranged, often stylistically updated songs. The actors share the narration with the same grace with which they share embodiments of the man himself. Will Chase is the most persuasive John. Marcy Harriell delivers a powerhouse] Woman Is the Nigger of the World. ... Mother.

I was lucky to marry Paul. He was a great inspiration, his enthusiasm about wine and food helped to shape my tastes, and his encouragement saw me through discouraging moments. I never would have had my career without Paul Child.

As an actress, it appeals to me because I love the idea of playing those in-between moments, the sort of behavioral stuff that one might not normally see.

I don't think I lost because I spoke with him. He played better than me at important moments.