I was in the army, and I had given up the thought of being a composer.
— Mitch Leigh
Not exactly what the world was looking for, a musical on 'Don Quixote.' It was required reading in high school.
It's still word of mouth that is going to make or break a show, and while critics can't help a show, they can hurt it.
To call somebody a Jewish composer is obviously redundant.
When you think of Mitch Leigh as a businessman, remember he's also a composer. And when you think of Mitch Leigh as a composer, remember he's also a businessman.
You have to do what is real and what is right and what is good and what you believe in. It doesn't mean it's always going to work. It doesn't. But when it does, it is truthful and forever.
If you're not a nice person, don't call.
I applied to Yale, and I got in.
New York is really the cheapest ad market. When I go on TV, I'm hitting a country. The market is as big as some countries, you know.
When I left Yale, I was prepared to write anything.
If one wants to go on living, one must evolve. Before, when we composed, we would start by a series of music themes. Once created, we would hire writers and lyricists to make up the text and the story line. I was the first to do this backwards with 'Man of La Mancha.'
I think if you see that no one is going to laugh at you for it, I think the concept of living nicely will be infectious. I believe there is room for the absence of cynicism.
The old joke was Mitch Leigh, land baron, barren land.
There's more musical freedom on Madison Avenue than anywhere else. It's an Eden for a composer.
My advice to singers is always the same: 'Don't sing the song, sing the lyric.'
You can't make money on advertising; you just have to seed the clouds. What you're after is word of mouth.
I grew up in Brownsville; most of the kids I grew up with went to jail, not Yale. If they had heard of Yale, they thought it was a lock to pick.
'La Mancha' was a gift from me to me. I never thought for a minute it was going to be a hit.
One doesn't go on television for the Manhattan crowd. You buy the sides of buses for that.
If I do what I really want to do, I'm not going to do a typical commercial Broadway show, so I'm going to write what I want to write.
I'll write anything; I don't want to judge its form.