L is for Liberace. And Larry Dallas.

One of the very first people I interviewed on this blog was Richard Kline. At the time he was just beginning preparation for his new role of Liberace in "All That Glitters". Now, it's about to start! Richard played the character of Larry Dallas, the sleazy used car salesman and best friend of Jack Tripper (John Ritter) on my favourite sitcom, Three's Company, and when I heard he is about to star in a Broadway production of All That Glitters, about Liberace, I fired off an email asking him for an interview. I was overjoyed when he replied to say I may send him questions - many people don't bother to reply - and was even more happy when I actually did get answers to my questions. I have decided to republish the interview in honour of this. 

PS: You are about to star in All That Glitters,  the story of Liberace, as Liberace! Liberace was a flamboyant character and the role will involve singing and playing the piano – how are you enjoying this multifaceted role?

RK: The role contains some wonderful ballads and a bit of piano playing. The script is at times hilarious and dramatic--especially in the second act where I play Liberace at the end of his life

PS: How did this role come about and how are preparations going?

Chris Mann - Pop Culture and Three's Company

Richard Kline, Don Knotts, Priscilla Barnes, Norman Fell,
Joyce DeWitt and Chris Mann with a copy of Chris' book
"Come and Knock on Our Door"

Pop Speaking could not hope to get off to 2014 on a better footing. 

This post is very very special to me. Chris Mann is not only one of the top authorities on pop culture of today, he's the definitive voice on Three's Company, the male star of which, John Ritter, inspired this blog. He has been kind enough to spend a lot of time and effort sending me some invaluable information as well as three previously unpublished photographs.  




Chris Mann is the author of "Come and Knock on Our Door" and consulting producer of NBC's 2003 hit telefilm "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company' ". I'm very humbled and grateful that he has put so much time and effort into giving me such wonderful answers to my in depth and probably quite searching questions. 

Chris, you’ve been in love with Three’s Company for a long time, for longer than I have.  How did you fall in love with the show?

Thank you, Gaynor, for this opportunity to share with readers of your fun and insightful new blog. It's so cool to know that "Three's Company" has moved you so meaningfully -- and that its magical reach still extends to the other side of the planet, no less! Like you, I started watching when I was a young child, primarily because of the late, great John Ritter.

Previously unpublished picture of John Ritter and
Chris Mann

His physical comedy and his timing were sublime, and his clownish spirit and "good-guy" energy really touched my heart. I was the class clown growing up (and I worked very hard to bring comic relief to my family as well), so Jack Tripper, as embodied and expressed by John, deeply resonated with me.

Joyce DeWitt also particularly moved me as a spirited performer; she and John made beautiful music together as a comedy team. 

Interview with Richard Kline (Larry Dallas from Three's Company) on role as Liberace and more

I had the absolute honour of being able to interview Richard Kline for my blog. Richard played the character of Larry Dallas, the sleazy used car salesman and best friend of Jack Tripper (John Ritter) on my favourite sitcom, Three's Company, and when I heard he is about to star in a Broadway production of All That Glitters, about Liberace, I fired off an email asking him for an interview. I was overjoyed when he replied to say I may send him questions - many people don't bother to reply - and was even more happy when I actually did get answers to my questions. The mark of a gentleman is to stick to your word and treat everybody with respect. So it's with extreme gratitude that I can bring you this once in a lifetime piece.



PS: You are about to star in All That Glitters,  the story of Liberace, as Liberace! Liberace was a flamboyant character and the role will involve singing and playing the piano – how are you enjoying this multifaceted role?

Autographs and pics

Some of my collection of autographs. Sorry for terrible scan quality! As a child and teenager I collected them, and am now thinking I would like to reprise this hobby. 

UPDATE!!

RICHARD KLINE!! 

Not exactly an autograph, but it MORE than counts. I wrote to Richard Kline - Larry Dallas from Three's Company - because he's in a big new show asking for an interview for my blog and got such a nice surprise to come home to this reply today. Standby for a celeb interview on my blog!!! 

"Daley" Thompson CBE (born 30 July 1958),[1] is a former decathlete from the UK. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. Richard Peter Snell (born 12 September 1968 in Durban) is a former cricketer who played five Tests and 42 One Day Internationals for South Africa. He played for Transvaal in the early 90's forming a formidable opening pair with Steven Jack. He took South Africa's first Test wicket after they were re-admitted to international cricket. The event where I got their autographs was so much fun. It was a sort of obstacle course / there were 10 events where they all had to compete over two days. They were all gracious!