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| SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | NOVEMBER 2020 | 45 In May, 2017, when the Friendship Club's featured performers walked onstage, those in the audience who didn't know about them held their collective breath. Standing before them were three chubby men with long, straggly hair, wearing jeans and shirts with the sleeves ripped off. What the heck? As soon as the rag-tag rednecks opened their mouths, however, the audience figured that they were in for something spectacular, and they were right! With knee-slapping choreography and silliness, the 3 Redneck Tenors, Blake Davidson, Matthew Lord (group leader and head writer), and Jonathan Fruge, belted out La Dona Mobile with yodels thrown in, and Thank God I'm a Country Boy. Then they blended the two songs together to show how talented they really were. Next, they whistled and finger-snapped the musical themes from the Andy Griffith Show and Bonanza, which blew everyone away. They launched into singing the theme songs of other TV shows of the 60s, too, including The Beverly Hillbillies, Love Boat, Green Acres, Mr. Ed, and Rawhide. After that, they took off their wigs and continued their banter with silly stories in a country twang. The audience enthusiastically laughed, cheered, booed, and ahhed. They introduced each other and explained what part they each sang, with solos in One Small Voice in the Universe. Their beautiful harmony was thrilling. Cousin Billy Tsycovski's favorite song, they explained, was Nuts, Crackers, and Sweets. Singing "bum-ba-dums" like instruments, they presented Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, to the utter delight of the audience. They sang Shenandoah in beautiful A capella style. Then came a medley of songs about New York: A New York State of Mind, New York, New York from the musical On the Town, and New York, New York, made famous by Frank Sinatra. Their tenor voices were exceptional, and they blended superbly. This is the Moment showcased the powerful harmony of each one of them, and a very brief intermission followed. The 3 Tenors came back out onstage for the second half of the show wearing tuxedo jackets over their jeans. This was supposedly their classical half. However, they couldn't resist telling funny stories about a Redneck Cookbook and interacting with the audience. They sang Figaro from The Barber of Seville, and came down to the audience to sing Impossible Dream from Don Quixote. The 3 Redneck Tenors were finalists in the second season of America's Got Talent. "We lost to a puppet!" they complained. Since then their career flourished and they've become international favorites. Another story they told was about Cousin Billy Beethoven's fifth of his favorite beverage. Then they "ba-ba-ba-bah-ed" through Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, with hilarious faces and banter between them. After talking about people who have cats, they sang Memory from Cats, changing the lyrics to "meows," and then singing it with the correct words. They ended the wonderful program with an incredible solo from each tenor. Jonathan beautifully vocalized God Bless the Broken Road, Blake gave a fabulous rendition of Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera, and Matthew absolutely thrilled the audience with Nessun Dorma, one of the most famous tenor arias, from Puccini's opera, Turandot. The Friendship Club is eager to bring back their fabulous shows in 2021. Until then, stay healthy and safe. The Friendship Club