Sun Lakes Life - by Linda Vieira, February 12, 2020
The Friendship Club presented a spectacular re-creation of the Carpenters' 1976 UK tour as its January show, starring Sally Olson as Karen and Ned Mills as Richard.
The show, complete with a video of the famed brother-sister act, dazzled the over-capacity audience, and included songs from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
Sun Laker Marti Steggell assisted Mills on a few of those songs, and Michael Lansing- who worked with the Carpenters during their 1976 tour- was a special guest.
Olson's voice sounded just like Karen Carpenter's, especially in "Yesterday Once More" and "Rainy Days And Mondays". A beautiful medley of Carpenters hits delighted the crowd, and Sun Lakers Michael Stone and Patti Zackula assisted Mills on a Spike Jones parody of "Close to You".
Olson and Mills wore the exact duplicates of the Carpenters vintage wardrobe, and they showed their outstanding musical prowess on drums and piano. They earned a well-deserved standing ovation from the audience.