Known to be an able provider of topical joke material for Academy Award hosts (notably Billy Crystal). Also for comedy personalities on the road such as Bette Midler.

"Musicals have clearly gotten more physical. You never saw Ethel Merman doing step aerobics. The real culprit in all this is not even the costume designer but the choreographer, that malicious spawn of Gwen Verdon and Satan." -- commenting on his strenuous undertaking in the tour of "Hairspray".