Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story

Don't get trapped into thinking people are halves instead of wholes.

The idea that two is the ideal, and that one is only good as half of two. You are not a half, and you should never treat someone else like a half.

Fade to black. Or whatever color you like. If you can find a way to fade to pink or purple, please do.

This should be the most homoerotically charged baseball dance number since “I Don't Dance” in High School Musical 2.

It’s always easy to blame other people for holding you back. But sometimes, the only person holding you back is . . . well . . . you.

This is the dangerous thing about musicals. Most of them assume that as soon as you find your voice, you'll use it to sing to someone else.

We all think we are actors, given our scripts. But really? You’re the playwright. You’re the composer.

If act one in life is about finding yourself, then act two is about finding everyone else.

It might feel like the end of the world-- but it's the beginning of your art.

LYNDA (TO TINY): Look forward to the moment when it falls apart. Look forward to the moment when you must rearrange your heart. It might feel like the end of the world- but it's the beginning of your art.

But none of that really mattered. I had found my tribe. It felt like a family reunion for the family I'd never really known, a homecoming at the place where I was always meant to be but hadn't known how to find.

LYNDA: Don’t get trapped into thinking people are halves instead of wholes. TINY: People are halves? LYNDA: They’re not trying to sell you on it yet, but believe me, they will. The idea that two is the ideal, and that one is only good as half of two. You are not a half, and you should never treat someone else like a half. Agreed? TINY: Agreed!

He counts as an ex because he made me feel dumped even without making me feel loved first.

No, Tiny. Words. Passion. The danger of falling in love is you mistakenly believe the loved one is the only source of passion in your life. But there is passion everywhere. In music. In words. In the stories you tell and the stories you see. Find passion everywhere, and share it widely. Don't narrow it down to one thin line.

But none of that really mattered. I had found my tribe. It felt like a family reunion for the family I'd never really known, a homecoming at the place where I was always meant to be nut hadn't known how to find.

Maybe there is something you’re afraid to say, or someone you’re afraid to love, or somewhere you’re afraid to go. It’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt because it matters.

The thing about a spotlight is that you have to step into it. You have to get onto that stage.

But no relationship should rely on you blocking out the world. The world will always get in.

Don’t get trapped into thinking people are halves instead of wholes. TINY: People are halves? LYNDA: They’re not trying to sell you on it yet, but believe me, they will. The idea that two is the ideal, and that one is only good as half of two. You are not a half, and you should never treat someone else like a half. Agreed?

Please tell me this pity party ends early. Or at least serves cake.

More than anything else, we want to fit into our own families.

you've gotta learn to love the falling, because it's all about falling.

Most babies come into the world crying or gasping or snotting. Not Tiny Cooper. He comes into the world singing.

Don’t get trapped into thinking people are halves instead of wholes.

This is Tiny’s number, but everybody’s going to be looking at the boys in uniform. This should be the most homoerotically charged baseball dance number since “I Don’t Dance” in High School Musical 2.

I wanted my spring awakening, even if it was coming a season late. I wanted summer lovin’ that would happen so fast. I wanted to succeed at the business of love without really trying.

When people say love is blind, they act like that’s a good thing. But some people find their way around in the darkness a little better than others.