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A Prairie Home Companion: The Screenplay of the Major Motion Picture
The screenplay of iconic radio host Garrison Keillor’s Robert Altman-directed major motion picture, A Prairie Home Companion , starring Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin.
The day of reckoning has come to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, home of A Prairie Home Companion . The show is closing, the theater is going dark. Station WLT has been sold to a broadcast conglomerate in Texas. The wrecking ball is poised to swing as the regulars—the Johnson Girls, Yolanda and Rhonda, and the singing cowboys, Dusty and Lefty, crooner Chuck Akers, and announcer Garrison Keillor—arrive for the last broadcast in a state of disbelief. But when the Dangerous Woman appears with her Botticellian hair and dazzling white trench coat, the final curtain catches them all by surprise.
• Features a foreword by director Robert Altman and an introduction by Garrison Keillor
• Contains an eight-page insert of photos from the movie set
The day of reckoning has come to the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, home of A Prairie Home Companion . The show is closing, the theater is going dark. Station WLT has been sold to a broadcast conglomerate in Texas. The wrecking ball is poised to swing as the regulars—the Johnson Girls, Yolanda and Rhonda, and the singing cowboys, Dusty and Lefty, crooner Chuck Akers, and announcer Garrison Keillor—arrive for the last broadcast in a state of disbelief. But when the Dangerous Woman appears with her Botticellian hair and dazzling white trench coat, the final curtain catches them all by surprise.
• Features a foreword by director Robert Altman and an introduction by Garrison Keillor
• Contains an eight-page insert of photos from the movie set
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
4 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Garrison Keillor
280 books843 followersGary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version of A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version of A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 24, 2025
I didn’t even know there had been a film, directed by Robert Altman, no less, made based on the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" but here is the screenplay.
Imagine: it's the final night of the PHC show, recorded live at its home, the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul, Minnesota. The theatre is about to be demolished and replaced by a parking lot, Station WLT having been bought by a Texan conglomerate as is the way with fading cultural gems and the lure of Mammon. The wrecking ball is on its way. The show's regulars gather for the final broadcast: the singing Johnson Girls (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty (Woody Harrelson and John C.Reilly), Chuck Akers (L.Q. Jones), the backstage crew, plus Garrison Keillor himself as the announcer and Kevin Kline as a private eye turned security guy "on account of a serious cash-flow problem due to a lack of missing heiresses and dead tycoons lying in the solarium with lipstick stains on their smoking jackets." But who is that Dangerous Woman wandering about backstage and what is she doing there?
it's an interesting curiosity for Garrison Keillor fans, but unsatisfying. I have loved Keillor's work since the 1970s, but here the frequent and lengthy homespun song lyrics wear rather thin without the actual music, I'd like to see the DVD though. I'll take that with some Powdermilk biscuits, of course, and maybe a slice of Bebopareebop Rhubarb Pie. Thanks.
Imagine: it's the final night of the PHC show, recorded live at its home, the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul, Minnesota. The theatre is about to be demolished and replaced by a parking lot, Station WLT having been bought by a Texan conglomerate as is the way with fading cultural gems and the lure of Mammon. The wrecking ball is on its way. The show's regulars gather for the final broadcast: the singing Johnson Girls (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty (Woody Harrelson and John C.Reilly), Chuck Akers (L.Q. Jones), the backstage crew, plus Garrison Keillor himself as the announcer and Kevin Kline as a private eye turned security guy "on account of a serious cash-flow problem due to a lack of missing heiresses and dead tycoons lying in the solarium with lipstick stains on their smoking jackets." But who is that Dangerous Woman wandering about backstage and what is she doing there?
it's an interesting curiosity for Garrison Keillor fans, but unsatisfying. I have loved Keillor's work since the 1970s, but here the frequent and lengthy homespun song lyrics wear rather thin without the actual music, I'd like to see the DVD though. I'll take that with some Powdermilk biscuits, of course, and maybe a slice of Bebopareebop Rhubarb Pie. Thanks.
Want to read
May 3, 2025The cutting is for Linda Wertheimer Script
By Garrison Keillor
By Garrison Keillor
September 22, 2014
A Prairie Home Companion: The Screenplay of the Major Motion Picture by Garrison Keillor (Penguin Books 2006) (791.442+/-) is the screenplay to a movie made about an episode of the show. It's nowhere near as funny as the actual radio broadcasts, though Kevin Kline makes a fine Guy Noir. My rating: 5/10, finished 4/7/14.
March 6, 2014
Opens up at Mickey's Diner with some low sax jazz in true (Guy) Noir fashion.
Overly self-indulgent but the blessing is, it's short.
Overly self-indulgent but the blessing is, it's short.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews