Just like the swallows leaving Capistrano and the booya returning to bingo halls, "A Prairie Home Companion" marks the fall season in its usual fashion, with a street dance and meatloaf supper following its Sept. 17 season premiere at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
Keillor with Sue Scott during a "PHC" show last year. (photo by Tom Wallace, Star Tribune)
Texas country-rockers the Derailers and Quebecois quartet Le Vent du Nord will be Garrison Keillor's guests that night, which kicks off a six-week home stand at the Fitz. Future guests include Nick Lowe (Sept. 24), Met Opera tenor Raul Melo (Oct. 1), Alison Krauss and Union Station (Oct. 8), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (Oct. 15) and John Lithgow (Oct. 22).
Keillor & Co. also return to St. Olaf College in Northfield on Nov. 19 for a broadcast featuring the college's choir and orchestra.
See www.prairiehome.org for more info and ticket details.
Conspicuously missing from Wednesday's press release was any mention of Keillor's still-pending retirement plans. My vote for new host: Nick Lowe.
