Did you hear?  Florence Henderson’s book, Life Is Not A Stage was just released. I am very happy for Florence that we can all learn “the rest of the story”.  Over the years I have always felt like I “knew” Florence but this new book is loaded with revelations that I even her close friends will come as news.

I knew she would be in New York City last week on a promotional tour for the book which included appearances on The Today Show, The View and the Joy Behar Show. By chance, I was scheduled to be in the City at the same time.

I met her at the The Today Show and joined her backstage at The View. One of the things I am very grateful for is the ongoing lifetime friendships I have with her and the rest of the cast of the Brady’s and this was a nice way to catch up and support her as she shared her life story with everyone.

The next night I invited her to dinner in the heart of Broadway at Sardi’s restaurant, a favorite of us both.  My son, Brandon who is now 8 an ¾’s, as he puts it, joined us.  He has become a big fan of The Brady Bunch, not because I pushed it, and was prepared with plenty of questions for her.  What was your favorite episode, did you like it when…, were you really mad when Peter broke the vase in the living room with the basketball?

What a fun evening and good food we had.  Florence was so patient and answered each question as though it was the first time she had been asked.  Brandon thinks it’s pretty cool I actually know her.  I think it’s pretty cool he cares.

I just arrived in Branson, MO to begin my new show BRADY BRUNCH with BARRY WILLIAMS this week on Oct 5^th.  I am looking forward to her making a guest appearance.  We certainly won’t run out of things to talk about. After I have read her new book I am sure I’ll have some new questions to ask her about.

Now Search & Win for Great Brady Prizes!

Ever since the days of Johnny Bravo, I have wanted to create a cabaret style musical show.  Over the years I have done versions although they never felt like they came up to par.  That has now changed.

The evolution of BRADY BRUNCH has been fantastic.  I went to Branson with an outline, show elements, music charts, and ideas for the show I wanted to create.  Yakov, who has been very successful throughout his past twenty years as a top celebrity comedian in Branson, grasped the concepts immediately and we went to work.  We wanted to create something especially designed for our Branson audiences.

At first the show consisted mostly of stories, videos and a few songs, which I sang live to track and… as the show title implies, brunch was served during the show. We did our try-outs right there in the Yakov Theatre.  The original concept was an enjoyable show, but we recognized there was a great deal of untapped potential.

Everyone hears entertainers tell audiences that they are an important part of every show.  That has never been truer than with the emergence of BRADY BRUNCH.

Yakov attended these try out shows over a two-week period.  After each show he had a conversation with the audience and invited them to share what they liked, didn’t care for, what they wanted to see more or less of and if it matched their expectations.  It became apparent that while everyone liked the Brady Bunch and are familiar with Greg Brady few knew what to expect from a show starring “Barry Williams”.

Our audiences enjoyed becoming an important part of developing our concept.  Their opinions and comments were invaluable.  Yakov took notes on the audience’s ideas and then he and I would work together to incorporate them.  The show changed shape and humor and content everyday leading up to our Gala Preview on August 13^th which was held for the honorable Branson community.  I am very proud of what ultimately emerged.

The number one request was for us to add more songs.  It seems that my singing abilities have been a well-kept secret in the Ozarks.  The first thing I did was to bring on board a terrific 5 piece local band which was hand picked by my Musical Director, Bogie Bohinc. We went from four to fourteen songs in this two-hour show.  The music now covers the 70’s, current day and standards.  We expanded the clips, videos and stories. We made it interactive… I have brunch together with the audience and answer questions while we eat.  We added a trivia game before the show to test Brady Bunch knowledge.  I pulled out the Johnny Bravo jacket to start the show and fortunately… it still FITS!  I share real stories about my life with the Brady’s and my own family. We also made sure that the brunch was tasty, hot and healthy.

Originally we hoped the reaction to the show would warrant a three month run in the fall of 2012.  The support and response was so strong, I have booked 182 shows which begin on October 5^th this year and run through December of 2012.

I return to Branson on September 28^th to gear up for our opening morning (the show begins at 10:30am) and well, I am very excited about getting started.

Branson Missouri is a wonderful setting with wonderful folks.  I encourage you to visit there for a vacation.  The fishing, boating, hunting, riding and tremendous caliber of entertainment there is top notch.  When you do, please stop by for a BRADY BRUNCH with me.  I’d love to say hi and take a photo with you in the lobby after the show.

Now Search & Win for Great Brady Prizes!

Here they are in no particular order…

1. Mirage/Las Vegas

2. Mariott Marquis Theatre/New York

3. Le Sporting Club/Monte Carlo

4. Yakov Theatre/Branson, MO

5. The Greek Theatre/Los Angeles, CA

6. Ka’anapali Beach Club/Maui, HI

7. Walt Disney World/Orlando, FL

8. Cruise Ship/Mediterranean Cruise

9. Grand Ole Opry/Nashville, TN

10. Dancing With the Stars

11. Australia

12. Canada

Let’s make it a great year.

Now Search & Win for Great Brady Prizes!

Hawaii has long been my favorite vacation, relaxation, rejuvenation destination. Specifically the island of Maui and more specifically the beaches of Kaanapali.

How great it is to find myself here this week and next week plus all of January at the Kaanapali Beach Club, which is a Diamond Resort, where I have been invited to join a terrific troupe of performers including the Akima family and my co-hostess, Makalapua, to interpret the rich history of Hawaii and her people.  Our Luau is known as the Feast At the Beach and this week, A Very Barry Christmas.  It is a traditional and beautifully told Luau and there’s me with my attempts to become an Honorary Hawaiian.  Throughout the show I try just about everything to be worthy of the honor.  I tell stories, I host, I try to learn the native language, I invoke my experiences with Don Ho and make Tiny Bubbles a sing-a-long.  At one point I don a grass skirt (just like the one Alice was wearing when she threw her hip out) with beads, leis and a headdress.  Finally I try and make music with a conch shell.  I can’t give away the ending here, but it helps my quest that I wear the original Brady Tiki throughout the show.

I wish everyone could join me for this oceanfront sunset on this magnificent island paradise.

I wish you a very Mele Kalikimaka,

Barry

Now Search & Win for Great Brady Prizes!

Barry, Chris and Mike recently made a rare public appearance together at Big Apple Comic Con in New York City. It was a fantastic crowd and the boys greatly appreciate everyone who came out. For those of you who couldn’t make it though, I had a chance to chat with the guys about growing up together in TV’s most famous family.

If you’d like to hear from more of the great guests at Comic Con, click here.

Attention New Yorkers! The boys are getting back together this Friday – Sunday at Big Apple Comic Con for their very first New York City joint appearance, and one of the very few that Barry, Chris and Mike have done together since The Brady Bunch went off the air. As the Banana Convention would say: “It’s gonna be a really big show. Really big!”

The guys will be signing autographs throughout the weekend as well as taking part in some very special events. Here are some tentative times to keep in mind:

- Photo Opportunities: Friday, 6:35pm, Saturday, 5:00pm & Sunday, 12:40pm

- Brady Boys Reunion Panel Discussion: Saturday, 4:00 – 4:45pm

- Brady Brunch: Sunday, 8:30am – 9:30am

To confirm times, purchase advance tickets and learn more about all the other cool guests and events, visit Big Apple Comic Con’s Official Site.

Bursting with big Brady news, here are your Greg Brady Project Labor Day Links…

Get fired up Florence fans! It’s Henderson vs. The Hoff in the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars. America’s favorite TV mom has officially signed on for the show’s eleventh season along with David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Grey and The Situation. Do I feel a Charleston coming on?

Susan’s back on the small screen! The youngest Brady girl showed up on The Young and the Restless last week. Meanwhile, word on the street from Entertainment Weekly is that Chris Knight will appear in the September 15 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful. (Chris, can you confirm???)

Barry had some fun with the 13 News morning gang in Topeka the other day. Brady World is running a Brady Bunch trivia contest. And Marcia’s hair dryer is marked down on eBay (TGBP cannot verify authenticity).

And finally, The Boys are Back in Town! Barry, Chris and Mike will be appearing together at Big Apple Comic Con in New York next month. According to Chris, the three have only gotten together for two other autograph signings since The Brady Bunch went off the air. Hope to see you there!

“Mega Piranha” will re-air on April 11 at 1am/ET and May 30 at 9pm/ET.

During the time Fury was on the air I was attending kindergarten in my home town (it wasn’t called pre-school then) and I had a girlfriend in my class. I liked to sit next to her when we were doing arts and crafts and I usually made my way near her in the afternoon for nap time. Occasionally we exchanged gum after it had already been chewed by one of us. Our version of french kissing I guess.

Her name is Claudia Graves and I was more than a little impressed when I was having a play date at her house one day, which happened to be just down the street from my own family home, and into the living room walks JIM NEWTON the owner of the Broken Wheel Ranch where Fury lived! It took me a minute to get the concept that Jim Newton was really an actor, Peter Graves and father to my sweetheart Claudia. This just seemed too good to be true and I thought it was so cool that I decided then and there I wanted to be an actor. Several weeks later while visiting at Claudia’s house I had a chance to ask Mr. Graves how he got to be an actor. He said, “I just thought about it.”

Good enough for me. I thought and thought and thought. Finally I thought about doing something about it and asked my parents to let me give it a shot. I started going to classes and acting lessons, got some 8×10 headshots and an agent. I was on my way.

After filming the Brady Bunch Pilot in 1968 and before we actually started filming the regular series in 1969 I had an extraordinary opportunity. I had an audition for a guest starring role in my then favorite TV series, Mission Impossible starring the man who inspired my whole career, Peter Graves. I got that role. Literally a dream come true.

Peter Graves passed away yesterday, March 13th. At the same time I was in Nashville doing what Peter inspired and I still love after all these years; acting onstage in a musical. His passing is a loss millions of people, along with myself feel. I always will be grateful to the wonderful contributions he made as an actor and a person including his remarkable return in the feature film Airplane. He was an inspiration to many and I am grateful for my personal connection with him.

I send out my warmest wishes and condolences to his wife Joan and daughters Kelly Jean, Amanda Lee, and first love Claudia.

As someone who’s done some singing and dancing with his own “brothers and sisters,” I can appreciate just how talented Michael Jackson was and am glad we got the chance to cross paths.

Farrah Fawcett and her poster were an important part of my growing up. For a while, I kind’ve resented Lee Majors! Of course, I didn’t show it the day he and Farrah made an appearance on The Brady Bunch Hour.

The script called for me to act tongue tied when I saw them. I can tell you, I didn’t have to do a whole lot of acting. While it may not be the scene either is best remembered for, I’ll always be thankful I shared the screen with those two TV icons.

Michael and Farrah will be missed.