To a Young Creator,

Don’t be me. I procrastinate way too much.

This letter has been asked of me for weeks. I wanted to find the perfect thing to say (especially if it was going to be sent to the people who are inspired by my hometown hero Mr. Steve Jobs). But honestly, I have been frozen without any great answer.

I keep waiting for inspiration to strike, and now they’re going to print. So I probably missed this opportunity to write.

Nevertheless, here I am: a few weeks before the biggest project of my life “Wicked: For Good” comes out to the world, and I think I just want to warn you. Don’t be me.

I am still working on me.

Often times, I get frustrated that I am afraid to call people back, or that my memory is so bad that I barely remember plots of movies hours after I’ve seen them. I hate that sometimes I feel like I need to please people with my movies and that I’m always searching for what other people want instead of doing what ever I want. I can’t believe I’ve actually picked up some of my parent’s passive aggressive language or that I even have those feelings towards my parents. Because I love them and they have given me everything… And I feel guilty to have any complaints about my upbringing… But I do. And it’s a part of how I work.

I wish I was more like Mr. Jobs. I wish I had the clarity he had. I wish I had the relentless drive he had to make something insanely great without compromise. But I sort of like to compromise. I find the compromise a test to see if I can be a bridge and get both what I want and what they want. Maybe that makes me weak. Man, I wish I wasn’t called “nice”. As an artist I want to be “complicated” or “subversive” but sometimes I just want to sit and play with my kids and watch cartoons, or dance around the house like a robot. Definitely don’t be me.

Just be you. You’ll be the best version of that. And it might just work.

Maybe.

Who knows.

(They just emailed me that I’ve missed the deadline so you probably won’t even read this anyway.)