36 May 2 • 2019
jn

R

ichard Kline, best known as the
neighbor Larry in the 1970s and
’
80s sitcom Three’
s
Company, is starring as the
owner of Joe’
s Diner in the
musical Waitress, playing
at the Fisher Theater from
May 7-19.
“I had to learn a slight
Southern accent for
the role, and I am from
Queens, New York,
” says
Kline, who joined the road
company last December.
“The show is set in a small town in the
American South.
”
Waitress, based on the 2007 film writ-

ten by Adrienne Shelly (see sidebar),
tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and
skilled pie-maker trapped
in an abusive marriage.
She finds herself pregnant
and dreams of a way out.
A baking contest nearby
offers her a chance to move
away and rebuild her life.
Joe provides encourage-
ment for a new beginning.
“In the show, I am Jenna’
s
support and I can easily
relate to that because I have
a daughter myself,
” says Kline, whose
daughter is 35. “For me, the fatherly
instinct is easy to portray.
”

Kline’
s five decades of acting began
after earning an undergraduate degree
from Queens College in New York, an
MFA in theater from Northwestern
University and serving three years in the
military, including two years in Vietnam.
He acted in college and graduate school
but made his professional debut in the
Lincoln Center Repertory Company in
1971. He went on to perform in regional
theater and made his Broadway debut
in the show City of Angels in 1990. He
was in the national touring company of
Wicked and stood by for Nathan Lane in
a show called November. He also starred
in the one-man show Boychik Off-
Broadway.
Among his more than 75 television
credits are Gilmore Girls, Judging Amy,
That ’
70s Show, NYPD Blue, LA Law,
Mary Tyler Moore, Maude and The
Americans. He’
s been seen in almost a
dozen films including Barry Levinson’
s
Liberty Heights. He also directed Noel
Coward’
s Present Laughter in Los
Angeles, where he won the L.A. Drama
Critics Circle Award for Best Direction.
He became part of sitcom history
when he landed the role of Larry Dallas,
Jack’
s friend and smarmy upstairs
neighbor on Three’
s Company. “It was
a dream working on that show,
” says
Kline, who keeps in touch with co-stars
Joyce DeWitt and Pricilla Barnes. “I
started in a one-shot guest appearance as
the upstairs neighbor. I guess they saw
chemistry between John (Ritter) and
myself because that led to a five-year
deal — and a few years after that. It was
truly like a family. John led the parade
with his humor and graciousness, and it
rubbed off on everyone. It was a terrible
loss when he passed away.
”

EARLY YEARS
Kline, who grew up in a Reform Jewish
home, attributes his desire to become
an actor to his family. “My sister is three
years older than me and she studied
ballet. Seeing her dance made me want
to perform,
” Kline says. “My father
had wanted to be an actor during the
Depression, but he had to help out the
family and instead became a tradesman.
My mother was a bookkeeper with a
beautiful voice. They both loved the arts
and that had a big influence.
”
Born and raised in New York City,
Kline moved to Los Angeles in 1976. In
2005, he moved back East and, about
seven years ago, began teaching a drop-

in acting class in Manhattan.
Kline says he’
s looking forward to
coming to Detroit. “It’
s one of the plac-
es we will be stopping for more than a
week — it’
s a two-week run,
” he says. “I
am hoping to explore Detroit and even
go up to Ann Arbor and visit my friend
Vincent Cardinal, chair of the musical
theater department at the University of
Michigan.
”
Meanwhile, Kline hopes when the
audience walks out of the theater, they
will be uplifted. “There are a lot of peo-
ple who were or are in a bad relationship
and can relate to Jenna,
” he says. “But
the show has a happy ending. Here is
a girl who breaks free from an abu-
sive, unhappy marriage — and it’
s
very empowering. It’
s all about female
power, and that’
s a good thing.” ■

Uplifting Musical

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS.

Waitress star Richard Kline embraces
the message of female empowerment.

Adrienne Shelly’
s
Legacy

Waitress, the Broadway musical, was
inspired by the movie written, directed
and starring Adrienne Shelly, whose
birth name was Adrienne Levine. Raised
on Long Island, N.Y., her father, Sheldon
“Shelly” Levine, passed
away when she was
young and, as a tribute
to him, she took his
first name as her stage
surname.
Sadly, Adrienne was
brutally murdered Nov.
1, 2006, by a 19-year-
old undocumented Ecuadorean con-
struction worker working in the same
building as her Greenwich Village office.
She was survived by her husband, Andy
Ostroy, and her then 2-year-old daugh-
ter, Sophie.
Ostroy established the Adrienne
Shelly Foundation, which awards schol-
arships, production grants, finishing
funds and living stipends to artists.
In her honor, the Women Film Critics
Circle gives an annual Adrienne Shelly
Award to the film that it finds “most
passionately opposes violence against
women.”
The movie Waitress, which also
starred Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines and
Nathan Fillion, was released posthu-
mously in 2007. The musical Waitress
officially opened on Broadway April
24, 2016. It starred Jesse Mueller with
music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles.

Adrienne Shelly

details

Waitress is at the
Fisher Theater, Detroit.
For tickets, call (800)
982-2787 or go to
broadwaydetroit.com
or ticketmaster.com.
Prices start at $39.

Christine Dwyer and
Richard Kline in a scene
from Waitress

SCOTT MARTINEZ

ADRIENNE SHELLY FOUNDATION

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