PartyLines- photographs by Patrick McMullan

You were a child performer. Any scars? “My brother and I did a waltz on the The Original Amateur Hour. We found out it was fixed! That's show business.” —Patti LuPone

—Arthur Laurents

Your striptease was great. What's the secret? “You have to have a sense of humor about yourself. The minute you seem angry or self-involved, nobody cares.” —Laura Benanti

—Marisa Tomei

—Matthew Broderick

Your next movie is The Punisher. Are you the Punisher? “Do I look like the Punisher? I look like somebody who'd get punished. I'm Microchip, his erstwhile sidekick” —Wayne Knight

—Laura Linney

—Boyd Gaines

Does Arthur Laurents show his age? “He's 91 going on 32. He goes up stairs faster than we do.” —Alison Fraser

—Chris Burke

—Donna Murphy

How did you avoid an Ethel Merman impression in your 1974 Gypsy? “I never saw her in it, thank God. If I'd seen her… ”
—Angela Lansbury

—Emma Rowley

—Alan Menken

You're in A Chorus Line right now. Do you have a stage mother? “I have one to an extent — a good one, not one of those crazy ones.” —Jessica Lee Goldyn

—Lauren Bacall (GETTY IMAGES)

—Zac Posen

You've been performing your whole life. How was it as a kid? “When I was in high school I played Bertha in Pippin. All the girls were playing all these beautiful roles, and I was Bertha the grandmother. That was fierce.” —Leigh Ann Larkin