Smart Radio Power
A Prairie Home Companion sells out the Wortham
Garrison Keillor'sA Prairie Home Companion, the live broadcast variety show that introduced America to the fictitious town of Lake Wobegon, Minn., will originate its next broadcast from the Wortham Theater Center's Brown Theater stage on Saturday evening.
And it's become something of a hot ticket for Keillor's devoted fans. The event is sold out and there are tickets being advertised on Craigslist for $125 each.
Prairie Home Companion began as a somewhat different animal in 1974, and has over the last 30 years built up a weekly audience of more than four million listeners on almost 600 public radio stations.
Known for its folksy and bluegrass musical guests, Keillor's tongue-in-cheek radio dramas and its most loved segment, "News From Lake Wobegon," the show has become a staple of Americana. (In 2006 it was made into a Robert Altman film starring Keillor, Lily Tomlin, Meryl Streep, Virginia Madsen, Maya Rudolph, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Kevin Kline and a then-with-it Lindsay Lohan.)
Saturday's live broadcast will include musical guests The Quebe Sisters, Texas-born mandolinist and violinist Richard Kriehn, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham. Also performing live will be The Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman), Rich Dworsky and The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and, of course, the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
If you don't get in, you can tune in to KUHF at 5 p.m. or listen online here. The show will rebroadcast online Sunday at noon.
Houston is becoming something of a regular stop for Keillor. He performed with the Houston Symphony last December.