Best of the Bunch

JEDEIKIN AND ROBERT LOVE
November 15th, 1990

The actors don't parody the Bradys, they pay tribute to them," says Faith Soloway, explaining why her stage show 'The Real Live Brady Bunch,' codirected with her sister Jill, has become an underground hit in Chicago. Performed weekly at the Annoyance Theater, 'The Real Live Brady Bunch' reenacts old 'Brady Bunch' episodes line for line using an all-adult cast. "The actors take themselves very seriously," says Jill, who instructs the cast to watch videos of the original episodes before rehearsing. At least on of the original Bradys seems pleased. Actress Eve Plumb – who played Jan in the original show – made a guest appearance at the Annoyance Theater as a record producer in the popular episode "Johnny Bravo." "There's something really funny about putting a TV show in a theater," says Faith, who has had to turn away 100 people a night during the run. "Every line is like gold."

"People have said to us, 'You guys could do "Lost in Space" or "Sanford and Son" and get the same reaction,' but we don't believe that's true," says Jill. "There's something about the Bradys that simply identifies a whole generation." Though a new episode goes up every two weeks, one aspect of the show never changes. When each performance is over, it's Alice, the maid, who gets a standing ovation. Jill Soloway has a theory: "You may not have noticed it, but Alice always makes all these sexual innuendoes in the script. She's definitely became the cult figure in our show."