My friends call me Barry. From time to time I also hear the name Greg. Yeah, as in Greg Brady. The Brady Bunch represents a fun time in my life. But it’s only part of the story. There’s more to say and that’s what The Greg Brady Project is all about – a place to say it. So, I’ve invited some friends to join me and share their perspectives on the Brady’s, the 70′s and just about everything else. Now, I’m inviting you…
It’s official! Barry’s new show, Brady Brunch, is underway at Yakov’s Branson Theater in Branson, Missouri! Of course, that’s Yakov as in actor, comedian Yakov Smirnoff, who I had a chance to chat with about his lengthy career, reinventing himself in Branson, and partnering with Barry to bring Brady Brunch to his stage!
You bring such a unique point of view to your act, which is I’m sure why you’re so successful. I’m curious if you ever played around with different personas back when you were starting out in the clubs or did you know right away that the best plan would be to just sort of be yourself?
Well my challenge was I didn’t speak English so I was being myself and my kind of a character kept changing by itself… by the more English I learned, the better I communicated my message and I never really had to do any impressions or, you know, things that would make me different because I was already different.
I have to imagine that some comedians have sort of a love hate relationship with catchphrases, but in most cases they’re sort of handed to you in a sitcom roll and you don’t necessarily have a choice about it. Yours is kind of a different situation and seems to have served you very well. Do you remember when you came up with “What a Country!”?
Yes. I was at The Comedy Store and I kept telling people some jokes and I kept saying “What a Country!” in the end, and I didn’t plan this to be funny and they kept laughing. So little by little, it became, they would come to me…the audience would come to me and say “What a Country!” and made me realize that they remembered that more than they remember jokes. So that was a big revelation for me that I might have stumbled on something that was powerful for them. So I kept saying that and then it became my signature piece.
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 5th. 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.
I have never worked so hard in my life. I have never enjoyed my work more. That pretty much sums up spending this past August with my partner Yakov Smirnoff in Branson, MO as we built my new multi-media variety show BRADY BRUNCH.
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”.
I am fortunate to have been invited to perform in many wonderful places in my career. Looking ahead to the new year I hope I have the opportunity to perform in the places/locations below. A wise man once said, “if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” So…can you help?
I am glad the Brady’s visited Hawaii for several weeks in 1972 for a three parter. It’s still at the top of my filming experiences. Please note that the Tiki Bobby found, the same one Greg was wearing when he wiped out on a coral head while surfing, didn’t REALLY bring bad luck.
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.
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.
It was a great run, but Florence finally said farewell to Dancing With the Stars after being eliminated in week five of the competition. “You have got to week five on merit. It’s not a fluke,” said judge Len Goodman after her performance. “You got there because of your dancing talent.”
Of course, it was only appropriate that Florence made it to TV theme week, where she got a special visit from our own Barry Williams. Watch Barry and Florence reunite 33 minutes into the show, followed by a rousing Tango to the tune of The Brady Bunch theme.
Eve Plumb is making her New York City theatrical debut and Barry and The Greg Brady Project want you to be there! We have a pair of tickets to give away for an October performance of Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage with your name on ‘em. To enter, just answer the following question:
What is the name of Jan Brady’s fictional boyfriend?
A) Phil Packer B) George Glass C) Stanley Vogel
Send your answer to eric.greenberg@thegregbradyproject.com and we’ll randomly select one of the correct entries to win a pair of tickets. Good luck! And by the way, the nice people at Miss Abigail’s are offering all of Barry’s readers 40% off tickets by using the exclusive promo code: BRADYLOVE.
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:
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???)
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!
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