Don Sherrill having fun with '3 Redneck Tenors'

“The show is really a blast. There’s nothing else like it out there,” he said by telephone while he and his cohorts were traveling by bus through Arkansas enroute to the next performance in New York.

Sherrill said the two-hour musical is made more fun by the reaction it is receiving from the audiences.

“The response has been great,” he said. “The crowds are going crazy over it. It’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had. I know the people of Chadron and the surrounding territory will really like it. They won’t be disappointed.”

Sherrill, who graduated from Chadron State in 1981 and immediately launched his career in musical theatre and opera, joined the show in January, about four months after it began the national tour and he’d completed another obligation.

By the time “3 Redneck Tenors” reaches Chadron, he’ll have played his part as Billy Billee about 30 times. About 20 more shows are scheduled this year while another agency recently purchased the rights to produce it during three 10-week tours for each of the next three years.

Sherrill said he expects to continue with the production.

“It’s kind of like having ‘Hee Haw’ in Carnegie Hall, if you can imagine that,” he said. “There are about 15 songs that include pop, old-time rock and roll, country and opera. Some of the songs surprise the audience. They kind of come out of left field.”

Several of the tunes are old favorites such as “Lone Prairie” and “Shenandoah.” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and the military hymns are included.

Sherrill has played in the production from Washington state to Florida and from New Mexico to New York. In a few weeks, the troupe will present it in Anchorage, Alaska, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The show was written by Matthew Lord, who also is one of the three tenors. Like Sherrill, he’s a veteran actor and singer who has performed in dozens of opera settings throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. Sherrill said they are close friends.

Another featured member of the cast is Keith Buterbaugh, who has held leading roles in “The Barber of Seville,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Showboat” and “The Sound of Music,” among many others.

One of the more interesting participants is Dinny McGuire. He portrays the Colonel, who guides the three tenors from Paris, Texas, on their way to stardom. McGuire spent 25 years as a ringmaster for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circuses.

“He ran away from the circus to join our show,” Sherrill noted with a chuckle.

Following the performance next Monday night, Sherrill will remain at Chadron State the next day to speak and work with music and theatre students at the college. That evening he will be the guest of honor at a dinner, where he will be inducted into the CSC Music Hall of Fame and be presented a Distinguished Alumni Award.

Since graduating from Chadron State 25 years ago, Sherrill has sung in nearly every major opera house in the United States and performed in 43 foreign countries. This is his fourth national tour.

He has often said that being able to be both an actor and a featured vocalist while he was in college helped him immensely with his career. Twice, he received CSC’s outstanding actor award.

“Having Don return to Chadron and bring ‘3 Redneck Tenors’ with him is one of the most exciting things the people in the fine arts at Chadron State could have happen,” said Carola Winkle, a member of the music faculty who helped arrange the event.

“He’s made it worldwide and is willing to come home and give us a show,” said Winkle. “It’s important that we have a good turnout to welcome him home.”

Sherrill’s mother, Wilma, and sister, Teresa Landreth and her family, live in Chadron.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, including those attending CSC. They may be purchased through the Memorial Hall Box Office at 432-6360. The cost of the tickets is less than half the amount being charged at many of the places it has been presented.

The performance at CSC will begin at 7:30 p.m.