Volume 15 , Issue 16

A Prairie Home Companion Radio Show

Remember When . . . A Prairie Home Companion was a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. It ran on Saturdays rom 5 to 7pm, Central Time, originating form the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It frequently took to the road.



Today You can catch it live on Saturday nights on the NPR radio stations in the United States as listed in the link above.

A Prairie Home Companion was known for its musical guests, especially folk and traditional musicians, tongue-in-cheek radio drama, and Keillor's storytelling segment, "News From Lake Wobegon." The who had a long history, existing in a similar from as far back as 1974, borrowing the name from a radio program in existence in 1969. It was named after the Prairie Home Cemetery in Moorhead, Minnesota, next to Concordia College.

Keillor became interested in doing a variety show on the radio, after doing research of the "Grand Ole Opry" for an article. On 6 July 1974, the first live broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion" took place, broadcasting from ST. Paul in the Janet Wallace Auditorium of Macalester College. Twelve audience members turned out, mostly children. The second episode featured the first performance on the show by Butch Thompson, who became house pianist. Thompson stayed wight he program until 1986, and frequently performs on the show.

It was in 1978, the show moved into the World Theater in St. Paul, which was renovated in 1986 and renamed the Fitzgerald Theater in 1994. This is the same location that the program uses today.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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