Meet Lacretta, the woman who makes ‘Night Court’ sing

“I prayed for success,” the “Night Court” star says. And then, greater things happened – movie roles, a Broadway run in “Disaster” and, now, the television series.

“I love surprises but this is the most beautiful surprise I’ve ever gotten in my life,” she says of the new sitcom. “I hope we go on for nine or 10 seasons but, realistically, I just want to have health insurance, be able to pay my bills and have a little bit of money to play with.” Time, apparently, doesn’t change those goals.

On the series, she’s Donna “Gurgs” Gurganous, the night court’s bailiff. Following in the footsteps of Selma Diamond and Marsha Warfield, Lacretta (she goes by one name, long “e”) knows there is plenty of opportunity to be a scene stealer. The key, though, isn’t to grab the spotlight.

“I don’t try to,” she explains with a smile. “I started out doing children’s theater and children can be very unforgiving when you’re trying too hard. So I just have fun with my scene partner, trust the script and trust myself…and I guess it’s working out OK.”

While taping in front of an audience, Lacretta can hear the laughs and know how well she’s doing. Stars Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette beam with pride and remember when they, too, were the supporting actors on a network sitcom.

“It’s so refreshing to be with Melissa and John because they’ve been on so many sets – and so many sets that were toxic – that they weren’t going to have that here. ‘We want you to feel heard and seen and happy and comfortable…because that’s how we’re going to create beautiful art.’”

Although Lacretta had roles on other television series, she didn’t have the camaraderie that comes with something like “Night Court.” “We’ve got time to play. We’ve got room to play,” she says. “And our writers studied us so skillfully that, as the season went on, it was more natural. Memorizing (the scripts) wasn’t so bad because this is the way the characters talk.”

Lacretta chose to be an “iconic blonde” for the first season, but she has since changed back to her natural color. If there’s a second season, who knows? “Women change their hair all the time.”

When she was doing research, the Kansas City native found photographs from the original series. When Larroquette saw them, he’d open up and tell stories about the episodes. “We got to spend a lot of time together. I love how approachable he is. He plays chess (with co-star Kapil Talwalkar) and they talk literature in between.”

Until “Night Court” came calling, Lacretta thought her career was going to be in New York. “I thought I was going to be a Broadway darling for the rest of my life.” Then, “Disaster,” a musical spoof of disaster films, came her way and was a hit. “I thought that would parlay itself into more and more Broadway shows. But the thing about that world is that we live in archetypes. And, unfortunately, my archetype is one thing and I am capable of doing more things. I find in film and television that I’m allowed to be other types than just the big Black woman that you’re not seeing.”

A gifted singer, Lacretta starred in the off-Broadway cast of “Avenue Q” and the first national tour of “The Book of Mormon.”

“Our schedule was gravy,” she says of the latter. “At the longest, we were in a city for three months, so we really got to settle from time to time. We never got down to one-nighters. I tip my hat to people who do that because your body doesn’t get time to rest. If I could do first national tours for the rest of my life, I would because I love traveling.”

When “Disaster” ended, Lacretta asked friends what she should do. “I have a master’s degree, but I hadn’t been training or learning about the voice in, what, 10 years? No one’s going to hire me to teach at their college.” Roles in stage shows were available but “the environment was a bit more toxic than I wanted.”

Those friends helped her realize just how talented she was. “You have to surround yourself with people who are pouring into you as much as you pour into them to keep you grounded and level-headed.” They encouraged her to take the television plunge and, now, she thinks about the day she returns to Broadway.

Enamored with “name” actors in their shows, Broadway producers often look to television for their casts. And when they come to Lacretta, “I’m going to say it out loud – that was a missed opportunity. They should have gotten me while I was cheap and,” she adds with a laugh, “I’m not going to be cheap anymore.”