Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with The Rev’s Richard Hartley

Richard Hartley is taking us to church with his new series The Rev on USA Network. The reality sitcom takes us behind the scenes of the Hartley household and follows Richard and his unorthodox style as he turns his choir of Chaka Can’ts to Chaka Khans. We caught up with Richard ahead of the show’s premiere for a hilarious conversation about the show, what audiences can expect, and the importance of being your authentic self.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success throughout your career. How did it all start for you?
Richard: It started in my local church, singing gospel music as a kid. I did that all through my young adulthood. Then, by chance, a flash of lightning, I landed a role in Mama, I Want to Sing!, which was the largest, longest-running off-Broadway Black gospel musical. From there, I was afforded the opportunity to travel all over the world—Japan, Europe, Australia. Then, I was selected to start directing choirs for big stars like Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last thirty years of my life.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career, either personally or professionally?
Richard: Personally, it was my mom because she recognized our musical talents. She went out as a single mother and scrounged up some funds and bought us a piano and stereo system. She invested in our musical abilities. Professionally, it was the experience of traveling around the world with the off-Broadway musical. That was it.

PC: Tell us about The Rev and what audiences can expect.
Richard: I’ve been a pastor for over twenty years at the church that my mother started. There’s my mother again. A friend of my mine said, “Richard, your rehearsals are like a show.” Listen, I’m going crazy. I’m throwing paper cups. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs. I’m kicking people out. He said, “This is a show.” He comes by one day and films me. I’m like, “All right. Film it. I don’t care.” He sends it to a friend who laughs. He sends it to an agent who laughs. That agent then sends it to a production company in Los Angeles. They sent it and we had offers from several networks, and we landed with USA. That’s how it happened. I’m just being my crazy, natural self.

The audience can expect to laugh. This is feel-good TV. You’re going to laugh. You’re going to see a family that you can relate to because I have two grown, adult children. They’re stay-at-home children whose only goals in life are to spend my money, eat my food, live rent and mortgage-free until the next millennium. That’s not going to happen, but that’s what they’re trying to do. [laughs]

Then, you have these local singers in my church choir. They’re not Chaka Khan. They’re Chaka Can’t. They’re Whitney Won’t. No Patty Labelles. They’re Patty Cowbell and Diana Loss. That’s my choir. I’m trying to integrate all my skills to bring them up to par. I’m dealing with my church, the pandemic, my family, and my beautiful wife of thirty-one years. We were married in 1AD…maybe 2AD. [laughs] She’s a hotel manager. What hotel does she manage? The Hartley Hotel. She cooks for the kids. She washes their clothes. She makes their food (she doesn’t cook mine because she can’t cook to my satisfaction), [laughs] but she coddles these children. These are her forty-year-old babies. They have AARP cards. They’re almost on Medicare and Medicaid. Why are they still here? Why? It’s hilarious.

That’s the show. That’s the beautiful thing about it; it’s authentically us. It’s our church and it’s our real choir. It’s my real house. It’s my real kids. I can’t trade them in—I tried already. I couldn’t get anything for those kids on eBay. It’s really who we are. This is who I am. The audience is going to laugh, feel good, and feel warm. That’s what it’s about. Nothing scandalous. It’s all rooted in faith and love.

PC: You were in the middle of filming when production got shut down due to COVID. Did you think that was the end of the show? How did COVID change the filming experience?
Richard: We started our production prior to COVID, then, of course, like the rest of the world, we were shut down. But the beautiful thing about USA Network is that during shutdown, they assured me that this show was happening because that’s how much they believed in it. We were shut down for a couple of months and then we resumed production—of course, with all the CDC regulations, social distancing, and masks. Now, how is my choir going to sing with a mask on? They can’t sing in the first place? [laughs] We integrated that into the show, and we made it happen. It was challenging, but we made it happen.

PC: I’ve had the opportunity to screen the first episode, and it’s fantastic. You share a lot of wisdom throughout the episode. What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned on your journey?
Richard: That’s easy. The biggest lesson I’ve learned that I share with people is to be who you were created to be. Your success and your happiness is being your authentic, true self. You don’t have to remake yourself to play anyone, even you. Just be who you really are.

PC: In addition to the show dropping this week, you’re also getting ready to release a new song. Can you tell us about that?
Richard: Yes! That’s very exciting. I’m going to release a new rock and roll gospel song called “Highway”. The message of the song is about life; that it’s a highway to heaven. In other words, it’s a journey. Perfection is not done in one day. Give yourself time to evolve. God understands all of that. But, what’s unique about this particular song is the backgrounds are done by one of my overseas choirs, the Tokyo Mass Choir. They’re all Japanese singers and students over there. Many of them don’t speak English, but they sing in English because I’ve been training them—and they don’t want to die, [laughs] so they sang it correctly. We recorded in Tokyo and that’s coming out the same day as the show.

To keep up with Richard, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch The Rev every Thursday at 10:30/9:30c on USA Network.

Photo Credit: James Dimmock/USA Network