Moll of 'Night Court' Tackles Schubert

[Skywalker]

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/calendar/73058



Moll of 'Night Court' tackles Schubert
CHUCK GRAHAM

Solitude is not the natural environment of actors. They need attention. They need an audience.

But not Richard Moll. Even though he created one of the signature characters on network television - the towering bailiff Bull Shannon of "Night Court" - solitude is what Moll treasures. He is an avid fly fisherman whose rural mountain home sits at 5,500 feet, right beside a hidden California lake he hopes remains hidden. Moll doesn't have a TV or a computer, either.

"I like to read a lot," he says simply.

On the telephone his voice sounds as big as his official height of 6 feet 7 1/2 inches. Size was very important on "Night Court." The producers wanted the character of Bull to tower over co-stars Harry Anderson and John Larroquette, both 6-footers. Size also helped Moll get the role of the famous German singer Johann Michael Vogl for the upcoming concert "Schubert's Shadow" presented by Tucson's own Chamber Music Plus Southwest.

In the early 1800s Vogl was a famous singer, twice the age of youthful Franz Schubert, already a highly regarded composer in his 20s. Critics and audiences alike were astounded by the artistic connection between these two men. Schubert would write songs specifically for Vogl, who had an intuitive gift for interpreting them. This relationship between the singer and the composer is the heart "Schubert's Shadow," set to play Sunday afternoon.

"Vogel was very tall, an imposing bass-baritone," says Harry Clark, the playwright and also the cellist for Chamber Music Plus Southwest. "Richard has the right look and voice for the part. And he's about the right age."

"I don't know very much about classical music," Moll says right upfront. "Though I did study German for three years at Berkeley. But I am an actor, damn it. I know I can do it."

"What I also like is that he's interested in taking on different kinds of roles," says Clark, not the least bit worried that Moll wasn't familiar with Vogl's name.

For this performance, Moll won't be asked to do any of the actual singing. A second guest artist, Burr Cochran Phillips, will step into the CMPSouthwest spotlight for that. Phillips has been a soloist with opera companies in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Tulsa and Santa Fe. The California-based opera singer has also performed recitals in Honolulu, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Quito, Ecuador.

Playing the music of Schubert are CMPSouthwest co-founders Sanda Schuldmann, piano, and cellist Clark.

Although Moll is best-known for the nine years he played Bull on "Night Court," online bio information notes Moll's career of more than 30 years includes more than 60 feature films such as "The Flintstones," "Scary Movie 2" and Arnold Schwarzenegger's comedy "Jingle All The Way," as well as 70 television shows including "Smallville," "Married With Children," "Laverne & Shirley," "Mork & Mindy" and "Happy Days."

Moll recently starred in the Sci-Fi Channel's "The Headless Horseman," which aired last Halloween. He appears in the pilot of what Moll describes as a children's program, "The Kitty Landers Show," being shopped around as we speak.

A major film, "Thomas Kinkade's Home For Christmas" with Peter O'Toole, also has a role for Moll. The film didn't get finished in time for a Christmas release this year as originally intended, Moll says. The movie is finished now, though, and is being prepped for a major Christmas holiday promotion for 2008.

In September, Moll was in Nashville doing a month of dinner theater performances in Larry Schue's "The Foreigner," a comedy with a social message. Although Moll has always done well with roles he describes as "having comedic content," what the famously tall actor enjoys most these days is playing villains.

"For me, it's like fantasy time," he says. "I get to do things I normally wouldn't do. And the villains are often colorful characters, which I like very much."

However the bass-baritone Vogl was no villain. He is considered a champion of Franz Schubert. A very tall champion. Perhaps for Moll, the experience of working with concert musicians in an art piece will become another career-turning experience.

[catlover79]

When I read the subject line, I thought he physically tackled the guy!! When you're his size, that wouldn't be hard to do. Seriously, great article. Thanks for sharing it!!