"A Prairie Home Companion" may be a well-oiled radio machine, but that doesn't mean its actors are ever off their toes.
Garrison Keillor, the show's star and driving force since its inception in 1974, is known to perfect the variety show's script up until the day -- or hour- it's performed. Veteran guest, writer and humorist Roy Blount Jr., recalls a taping at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Conn., some years ago, during which Keillor scribbled revisions as the actors were speaking their lines.
"Garrison will discard a sketch halfway through the show," said Blount, a regular guest since the mid-1980s.
Adds "A Prairie Home" mainstay, actor Tim Russell: "Every once in a while he’ll throw us a curve ball. All we have to do is listen and react."
Blount, a native of Decatur, and Russell, of Minneapolis, are gearing up to perform in the American Public Media gem this Saturday when Keillor brings the crew to the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Atlanta's public radio station WABE-FM (90.1), is sponsoring the event, which will broadcast live to those who didn't snag their tickets before the event sold out. The performance will feature musical guest Caroline Herring, also of Decatur.
Russell, who joined the cast in 1994 and is known for such recurring roles as "Dusty the cowboy," credits the show's widespread success to Keillor's wit, story-telling skills and detail-filled memory.
"He’s kind of a writer who has never forgotten his childhood or upbringing. I couldn’t remember what I did yesterday," Russell said. "I’m always envious that he has this facility to remember the most minute details he uses in his writing or in his books."
Adds Blount: "There's a lot of familiarity in ‘A Prairie Home Companion,' and it's hard to find familiarity in things anymore."
Folk singer Herring is hoping the show will help her become familiar to its loyal fan base. Each week, some four million people tune in to hear Keillor's Grand Ole Opry-styled musical numbers and comedic sketches. Herring learned just over a week ago that she'd make her debut on the show, and at the Fox, and even sing duets with Keillor himself.
"I’m going to find something to focus on out in the audience and breathe and practice 500 more times before I get up there and do my thing," she gushed this week. "You always want to be on any radio show… this is the apex."
IF YOU LISTEN
"A Prairie Home Companion" is sold out, but will be broadcast live Saturday on WABE-FM, 90.1, with an encore performance Sunday at 10 a.m.
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