ANOTHER SHOW....ANOTHER RAVE!

Cabaret review: Lovely lady Florence Henderson

David Wiegand, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 7, 2010

If you grew up wishing Florence Henderson was your mom, your older sister or even your kid sister, here's a lovely lady, as the song goes, who tells you her story over 90 minutes at the Rrazz Room through Sunday, and it's one you really don't want to miss.

In life and in art, Florence Henderson is a survivor who grew up in rural Kentucky and Indiana, headed for New York like some real-life Judy Garland character, caught one break and then another, and has packed a career full of starring roles on Broadway, national tours in parts made famous by others, a TV show that made her a pop culture goddess for all time, gigs guest-hosting talk shows, filling a Hollywood Square, selling cooking oil and denture cleaner on TV, divorcing one husband, burying the second, raising four kids and, at 75, she's still here.

Henderson doesn't actually sing all that much at the Rrazz Room, but when she does interrupt her captivating autobiographical patter, she offers up the most unlikely bunch of tunes you've never heard at a cabaret: "You Are My Sunshine," "My Dad," "Moonshine Lullaby," and, I kid you not, "My Old Kentucky Home." (Too bad Stephen Foster isn't collecting royalties these days.)

There are a few standards, such as "Where or When," "Me and My Baby" and "A Wonderful Guy," but those seeking the usual catalog of Gershwin and Porter are advised to apply elsewhere.

In truth, Henderson, svelte and terminally perky in a white pantsuit accented with sequins, sings only about a dozen numbers over the course of her 90-minute show, and a couple of those songs are novelty numbers cleverly meant to concede the fact that she may not be a spring chicken, she may or may not have had work done, she really, really likes men, regardless of her squeaky-clean TV image, and so what?

Ably backed by pianist Glen Roven, three backup singers and a cellist and a multi-instrumentalist, Henderson deceives the audience as only a superb performer can: Within minutes, you'll think she's in your living room, chatting over cocktails.

Recalling how her mother would take her down to the general store and prompt her to sing for the customers in order to get free food, Henderson leaves the stage with an old battered hat in hand to collect money from the audience (worry not - the money will go to the Richmond Ermet AIDS Foundation at the end of her all-too-brief week).

When she gets to the inevitable "Brady Bunch" segment, she not only leads a sing-along of the show's theme song but even takes questions from the audience.

By the end of the show, the only question you'll want to ask is, do you really have to go?

Florence Henderson: "All the Lives of Me ... A Musical Journey." Through Sun. The Rrazz Room, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St., S.F. $40-$47.50. 8 p.m. today-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. (415) 468-3399. www.therrazzroom.com.