Kicking off the 50th Anniversary Tour of A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANIONLet’s get this party started — leading up to A Prairie Home Companion’s 50th Anniversary in the summer of 2024. We’re getting the crew together for a few shows as we head toward this milestone year, starting with a performance on July 29, 2023, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Click to Order tickets The 50th Anniversary Prairie Home Companion shows celebrate the Last Live Radio Variety show with an opening video of PHC’s origins in Minnesota and Garrison Keillor’s stand-up on the beauty of being 80. Comedy sketches include “Guy Noir, Private Eye,” “The Lives of the Cowboys,” “Duane’s Mom,” and “Ruth Harrison, Reference Librarian” with the Royal Academy of Radio Acting and sound-effects wizard Fred Newman. There will also be a commercial for Powdermilk Biscuits on this subject: Cheerfulness Is a Choice. Also a word or two from the American Duct Tape Council, Coffee, Guy’s Shoes, and the Catchup Advisory Board. Along for the ride, witty singer-songwriter Nellie McKay, charming singer-actor Christine DiGiallonardo, dazzling vocalist Heather Masse, actor Tim Russell (the man of a thousand voices), sound-effects wizard Fred Newman, and music director Richard Dworsky at the piano. Count on songs, jokes, the one-of-a-kind audience sing-along intermission, and of course, the latest News from Lake Wobegon. TICKETS ON SALE NOW! JOIN US LIVE (click for the link) Visiting Lancaster Information on places to stay and things to do. Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay has been described as clever quirky, surprising, wacky, sweet, tough, kitschy, plucky, offbeat, zany, disarming, brilliant, and confounding. And each of those adjectives is fitting when it comes to this delightful singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Rolling Stone called her “a renegade songwriter with an ultraflexible Great American Songbook sensibility.” McKay has released a stack of acclaimed albums, among them: Sister Orchid, My Weekly Reader, and Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day. She co-created and starred in the award-winning off-Broadway hit Old Hats. And she won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Polly Peachum on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera. She also performed onscreen in the films P.S. I Love You and Downtown Express. Maybe the New York Times put it best: “The one thing certain about Ms. McKay is the size and range of her talent.” Heather Masse
Known to many as a member of the acclaimed Juno Award-winning Canadian band The Wailin’ Jennys, Heather Masse has taken the stage at hundreds of venues across Europe, Canada, and the U.S. She appeared regularly on A Prairie Home Companion, and the versatile vocalist has performed with the bluegrass band The Wayfaring Strangers on NPR’s World Cafe and at Boston’s Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Among her recordings: August Love Song, Lock My Heart (with jazz legend Dick Hyman), and Beautiful Dreamer (a duet album with Garrison Keillor). The Royal Academy of Actors
New York-based vocalist Christine DiGiallonardo is at home singing in early-music chamber ensembles as well as jazz and rock bands. She performs solo and with her sisters, Daniela and Nadia, as The DiGiallonardo Sisters, and her voice can be heard on commercial jingles for Aquafresh, Mr. Clean, Playtex, and Febreze. Her theater credits include Carousel (Live from Lincoln Center), Lady, Be Good! (City Center Encores!), The Sound of Music (Carnegie Hall), and My Fair Lady (Avery Fisher Hall). A well-known Twin Cities radio personality and voice actor, Tim Russell is a man of myriad voices. He appeared in the Robert Altman film A Prairie Home Companion and the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man. Sound effects man Fred Newman is an actor, writer, musician, and sound designer for film and TV. Turns out, no one is more surprised than Fred that he’s made a career out of doing what he used to do behind the teacher’s back — crossing his eyes, making sounds, and doing voices. He readily admits that, growing up, he was unceremoniously removed from several classrooms, “once by my bottom lip.” Our Music Director and Master of the Keys, Richard Dworsky For 23 years, Richard Dworsky served as A Prairie Home Companion’s pianist and music director, providing original theatrical underscoring, leading the house band, and performing as a featured soloist. The St. Paul, Minnesota, native also accompanied many of the show’s guests, including James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow, Chet Atkins, Renée Fleming, and Kristin Chenoweth. Garrison Keillor is the host and creator of A Prairie Home Companion. The radio show welcomed over 10,000 musical guests to its stage who performed to a weekly radio audience of over 4.5 million listeners on public radio stations throughout the country. He is a writer who wrote much of what you heard on the radio show including scripts, satirical songs, poems, and of course, the News from Lake Wobegon. Cheerfulness is his most recent book. It has just been published and has an uplifting and contagious spirit that will leave you in a more “cheerful” mood. We hope you enjoy the book and look forward to a few “cheerful” exchanges during the shows! Click to ORDER the book. This is a FREE NEWSLETTER. If you want to help support the cost of this newsletter,click this button. Currently there are no added benefits other than our THANKS! Any questions or comments, add below or email admin@garrisonkeillor.com Upgrade to paid © 2023 Prairie Home Productions
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