'Boy' hopes to return to old Kentucky home

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Jul 13, 2003 Source: The Louisville Courier-Journal Submitted By: Gina The Backstreet Boys haven't released an album of original songs since "Black and Blue" in November 2000, but Kevin Richardson has kept plenty busy over the past 2½ years. The Kentucky native has made his Broadway debut, purchased a legendary Boston studio, started an environmental foundation, addressed a congressional subcommittee and made serious plans for settling down one day. Richardson and his wife, Kristin, celebrated their third anniversary on June17 by spending their first night in a 19th-century home they restored on their farm outside Lexington. By the time their eighth anniversary rolls around, Richardson vows that the house will be his permanent residence. "Within the next five years, I'll be back here in Kentucky," said Richardson, 31. "We just finished restoring an old, historical home, and I love it, man. I'm so excited. I can't wait to move back." But Richardson is moving to London first. England, not Kentucky. This fall, he will reprise his Broadway role as shyster lawyer Billy Flynn when the production of "Chicago" moves to London's fabled West End. His wife will continue to pursue her acting career in Los Angeles, where the couple recently renovated another historic home. "My wife's acting career is going pretty good," Richardson said. "We want to give it at least two more years, then start having children. Before they get to be school age, we want to move back." Richardson's wife, a former dancer in Cher's concert troupe, is a Kansas City, Mo., native who shares her husband's heartland values. They met in 1992, long before Richardson and the Boys ascended to superstardom. He was working at Disney World at the time, playing Tigger, Aladdin, Sebastian the crab or one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, depending on the day. "I was Sweetums from the Muppets, too," Richardson said. "Don't forget that one." Richardson, a grandson of a coal miner, behaves like a man who hasn't forgotten his humble roots, though his celebrity demands special concessions. At lunch last month in downtown Louisville, he had to be seated in a private room to get a fighting chance to eat his club sandwich and fruit plate. He politely accommodated several autograph requests from the restaurant's staff and seemed genuinely touched by the tongue-tied entreaties of one trembling young waitress. Richardson wasn't five steps outside the restaurant when a thirtysomething businessman stopped cold, spun on his heel and said, "Hey, aren't you one of the Backstreet Boys?" "I sure am," Richardson said, extending his hand. "Hi, I'm Kevin Richardson. What's your name?" With his jet black hair and iridescent green eyes, Richardson conveys the same earnest intensity as his precise but placid voice. No wonder the most senior of the five Backstreet Boys is also known as the most serious. Richardson founded an environmental group called Just Within Reach and helped establish another group called Kentucky Riverkeeper that focuses on monitoring water quality. Last June, Richardson went to Washington to lobby against a Bush administration plan to permit coal companies to dump even greater amounts of dirt and rock into the stream-laced valleys that lie below the mines. He was thinking about returning to his old Kentucky home even then. "When I move back home to Kentucky to raise a family on my farm, I want my kids to be able to fish and swim in the same places I grew up," Richardson told a subcommittee chaired by Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: Paulo Submitted by: John Submitted by: Joe Comment on this item. Next Item: A star is born... maybe Prev Item: I tawt I ta a Backstreet Boy.