Knock me over with a feather. I had a terrific seat at The Magic Castle last night for Florence Henderson’s sensational one-woman show All the Lives of Me and I’m still kind of floating on air.

Miss Henderson is still at the top of her game professionally and is also a very warm and gracious woiman.

It’s always so great to see her perform live and this show is something special because it takes you back to her tough childhood, early stage success with mentors Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, motherhood and marriage then that TV show that lives on and on and on.

The evening included songs and stories and I think what is most surprising are the stories about Florence’s childhood. She was the youngest of 10 children and her mother was very tough on her: “She was a real stage mother. She would have made Gypsy Rose Lee’s Mama Rose look like Little Bo Peep. She’s lucky I didn’t turn out to be a stripper. She made me sing every chance she got.”

Her father, who she adored, drank and her mother left the family when Florence was only 12.

But she continued to rely on her talent and after high school and a year at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, she started getting Broadway roles.

Her first big break came when she was given the lead in the national tour of Oklahoma! She also screen-tested for the movie role but “the little bitch Shirley Jones got it.”

Florence was a major star on Broadway in such shows as Fanny, The Girl Who Came to Supper, Oklahoma! and Wish You Were Here. She also starred in major productions of The King and I and The Sound of Music.

But Florence  told the crowd “you could be a big hit in New York City and everybody knows who you are. But around the country, they don’t really know you.”

That all changed with The Brady Bunch: “I never meant for it to happen, I never thought it would happen. I never wanted it to happen. I always thought I would live in New York City and be on Broadway. Along comes this little show, it’s never been off the air in this country! You cannot kill it with a stick. Believe me, I have tried.”

She then led the audience in singing The Brady Bunch theme but screwed up the lyrics in the second verse! She said, laughing: “I’ve sung that song way too many times!”

One of the more moving moments of the evening came when Florence talked about Robert Reed who played her TV husband for all those years.

She dedicated One from A Chorus Line to the late actor.

“I always felt so sad for him because in the early 70s you couldn’t come out because you wouldn’t work,” she said. “And here he was playing the father of America and he was gay. And he loved those kids so much and they loved him. We were his family. It always made me so sad that when he died, one of our wonderful rag sheets printed his death certificate on the front page which said he died iof AIDS. That really hurt us more than anything. Bob did not deserve that.”

The Broadway star-turned TV mom is accompanied in the show by her close friend, Emmy winning composer and lyricist Glen Roven with whom she shares some very amusing (and sometimes a little naughty) banter.

“I feel so blessed not only to work with him but the fact that he is my dear friend,” she said of Roven (pictured with her above). “He’s just such a joy to work with – he has such enthusiasm. He’s so talented.”

Florence kicked off the first of two shows (she also appears tonight) as part of the Cabaret at the Castle series which has also included terrific shows by Carol Channing, Rachel York and JoAnne Worley.

You don’t have to be a member of The Magic Castle to attend! Click HERE for ticket information.

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