A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media

Special Guests
Saturday, June 3, 2006

Virginia Madsen

One of Hollywood's most versatile and unique actresses, Virginia Madsen was raised in Chicago, attended New Trier High School, and then continued her studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She made her feature film debut in "Class" (1983) and followed with "Electric Dreams"(1984). More recently, she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, and received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her outstanding performance in Alexander Payne's hit film "Sideways" (2004). Other film credits include Francis Ford Coppola's "The Rainmaker," Rob Reiner's "Ghosts of Mississippi," the horror cult classic "Candyman," Dennis Hopper's "The Hot Spot," the independent film "Almost Salinas," "American Gun," "Firewall" and the HBO feature "Long Gone." On television she was seen in recurring roles in the long-running hit "Frasier," as well as the critically acclaimed dramas "American Dreams" and "Moonlighting." Madsen plays the Angel of Death in the Robert Altman film "A Prairie Home Companion." She appears in "Smith," a TV series premiering this fall on CBS, and she stars in several upcoming films, including the satirical comedy "The Astronaut Farmer" and the existential drama "The Ripple Effect." She is currently filming the psychological thriller "Number 23," directed by Joel Schumacher.

John C. Reilly

John C. Reilly's has been an actor since he was about 8 years old. He credits the Chicago Park District for his career choice. "They had great after-school programs for kids, woodworking, drama and music and all this stuff." Acting kept young John—who grew up in a rough neighborhood on Chicago's South Side—out of trouble. He graduated from Brother Rice High School, received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from DePaul University's Goodman School of Drama, and eventually became a member of Chicago's renowned Steppenwolf Theatre. Reilly's first film was Brian De Palma's Casualties of War in 1989. Since then, he has had roles in dozens of movies, including Days of Thunder, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The River Wild, Boogie Nights, The Perfect Storm, The Thin Red Line, Gangs of New York and Chicago, for which he received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, he starred with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, sharing the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast from the Screen Actors Guild. And he appears as Lefty in Robert Altman's new film, A Prairie Home Companion. Reilly frequently returns to his theater roots and recently was seen in the title role of Marty, based on the movie and Paddy Chayefsky screenplay of the same name. In 2000, he appeared in Sam Shepard's Broadway production True West, starring opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman and garnering a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Lead Actor. His other stage credits include starring with Gary Sinise in the Steppenwolf Theatre productions of The Grapes of Wrath and A Streetcar Named Desire, and producing and playing the title role in Ionesco's Exit the King at the Actors Gang Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2005, he returned to Broadway and A Streetcar Named Desire, this time to tackle the role of Stanley Kowalski to wide acclaim.

Meryl Streep

Growing up in New Jersey, Meryl Streep wanted to be an opera singer. But while a student at Vassar, she became interested in acting and after graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. She made her first feature film appearance in "Julia" (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in "The Deer Hunter" (1978). In all, she has been nominated for the Academy Award 13 times, and has won it twice: for "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979) and "Sophie's Choice" (1982). She has given outstanding performances in many other notable films, including "The French Lieutenant's Woman," "Silkwood," "Out of Africa," "Heartburn," "Ironweed," "Postcards from the Edge," "Dancing at Lughnasa," "Music of the Heart," "The Hours" and "Adaptation." On stage Streep has appeared in the Public Theater's production of "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov, and later this summer, she will play the title role in the Public Theater's presentation of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children." In addition to her Academy Award honors, she has won several Emmy Awards (most recently for the HBO production of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America"), numerous People's Choice Awards, the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Life Achievement Award presented by the American Film Institute. In 2004, she joined The Culture Project as producer for the staging of Sarah Jones's one-woman show "Bridge and Tunnel." Streep plays one of the singing Johnson Sisters in the Robert Altman film "A Prairie Home Companion," and she recently finished production on the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," in which she plays a high-powered New York City fashion magazine editor. She will narrate a pair of children's classics—The Velveteen Rabbit and The Night Before Christmas—available soon at Starbucks, and later in general release by Random House Inc.'s Listening Library.

Sally Dworsky

Sally Dworsky grew up in musical St. Paul family. She remembers being a very young child and falling asleep underneath the piano while older brother Rich-now A Prairie Home Companion's music director-practiced. These days, Sally makes her home in the Los Angeles area, where she's fronted her own band, been a member of the band Uma, and recorded and toured with the likes of R.E.M., Peter Gabriel and Don Henley. Her singing voice is also heard in the leading roles for such animated films as Shrek, Prince of Egypt and The Lion King. Her most recent album-songs by Tom Waits, Loudon Wainwright, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Irving Berlin and others-was recorded with Rich Dworsky. It's called Start It All Over Again (Inner Vista Records).

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver

Doyle Lawson was born in East Tennessee-where he still makes his home-and grew up in a family that sang gospel music. He remembers looking forward to Saturdays when the Grand Ole Opry was on the air and he could hear the likes of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. At age 11, Doyle taught himself to play the mandolin, and when he was still in his teens, he got a job playing banjo with Jimmy Martin. In 1966 he joined J.D. Crowe and five years later went to work with The Country Gentlemen. He started his own band in 1979, calling it Doyle Lawson & Foxfire, before settling on Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. They've released some three dozen albums in the last 27 years, the most recent titled He Lives In Me (Horizon). In 2004, they celebrated the band's 25th anniversary with a concert, now available on DVD. The group has earned multiple Grammy nominations and innumerable International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards, including five consecutive Vocal Group of the Year awards. The band: Jamie Dailey on guitar, Terry Baucom on banjo, fiddler Mike Hartgrove, and Darren Beachley on bass.

Shelby Lynne

Born in Virginia and raised in Alabama, Shelby Lynne moved to Nashville in her early 20s. There she recorded a few demos and finally landed a spot on TNN's Nashville Now, which led to a recording contract with Epic Records. She had moderate success, made a few albums, and even won the 1991 CMA Horizon Award (for top emerging artist). But it was only after relocating to Palm Springs, California, about eight years ago that things really started to happen for this talented singer/songwriter. She released the album I Am Shelby Lynne (Island Records), and she won a Grammy Award for "Best New Artist"—even though she'd already chalked up five CDs and more than a decade's worth of performing. She followed with Love, Shelby in 2001 and Identity Crisis in 2003. Her latest album, titled Suit Yourself, was released last year on the Capitol label. Lynne, a big Johnny Cash fan—on the day he died, she wrote a song called "Johnny Met June"—made her acting debut in the role of Cash's mother Carrie in the 2005 hit film "Walk the Line." Saying that she enjoyed the filmmaking process, Lynne admits that she'd like to try acting again, if the right role came her way.

Andy Stein

Andy Stein (violin, saxophone) collaborated with Garrison Keillor to create the opera Mr. and Mrs. Olson. He has appeared on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman, and has performed with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Eric Clapton, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan.