There is no pit orchestra. The musicians are essentially characters in the show. That was a big idea from Des. And it set a structure within which we were able to write the show.

239

The more they got into this, the more it seemed they had kind of a Shakespearean history, ... By that, I mean there's love and hate, and life and death, and revenge, betrayal and greed and anger.

196

They were not taken seriously the way the Beatles were, or the Beach Boys, or the Stones ? bands who were written about.

141

We never knew their story because they were from Jersey, and because they were blue-collar high-school dropouts ? Italian kids with no glamour quotient at all.

117