A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Barbara Cook

When Barbara Cook made her Broadway debut in the musical Flahooley in 1951, it marked the beginning of a truly extraordinary career—one that's still going strong after more than a half-century. The Atlanta native went on to create the role of Cunégonde in the original production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, and followed with her creations of two classic American musical theater roles: Marian the Librarian in The Music Man, a performance that earned her the Tony Award, and Amalia in She Loves Me. She continues to captivate audiences with her shimmering voice, be it in the intimacy of the Café Carlyle or before thousands at the Metropolitan Opera or the Hollywood Bowl or London's Albert Hall. Her dozens of recordings include 2007's No One Is Alone (DRG).

Kustbandet

Kustbandet (in English, "The Coast Band") is a 12-piece jazz ensemble from Stockholm, Sweden, whose renditions of hot tunes from the 1920s and '30s have enthralled fans for more than 40 years. They formed in the early 1960s, inspired by the music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson and other greats, and began playing at school dances and in small jazz clubs. With their performance at the 1973 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, they earned an international reputation and have toured regularly ever since—from Lapland to Sydney, Tokyo to the Crescent City. Their most recent CD is Blue Rhythm Fantasy (Sittel Records). It is said that in one of his last letters, Satchmo himself wrote that he wanted to sit in with Kustbandet. Enough said.

Robin and Linda Williams

"Individually their voices can melt cheese, and in duet they can do all-purpose welding," Garrison Keillor has said of Robin and Linda Williams. And while their fans might not put it quite that way, they'd certainly agree. Singing the music they love, be it bluegrass, folk, old-time, or acoustic country, these two have carved out a three-decade career that has taken them from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. And they have written dozens of terrific songs, ones that have been covered by Emmylou Harris, Tom T. Hall, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kathy Mattea, The Seldom Scene and many others. Radio Songs, a CD of favorite APHC performances, was released last fall on Red House Records.

The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band

The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band is led by A Prairie Home Companion music director Richard Dworsky (keyboard) and features Pat Donohue (guitar), Gary Raynor (bass), Andy Stein (violin, saxophone) and Arnie Kinsella (percussion).

Staff Bio

David O'Neill, Marketing Director/Station Relations/Archivist

Before David O'Neill had reached his teens, he was working pledge drives at Minnesota Public Radio. Soon he was doing odd jobs for A Prairie Home Companion— sweeping the theater, selling APHC products in the lobby. Then Ray Marklund, a beloved old stagehand who took photos at rehearsals, handed young David a camera and said, "Here, you take shots. I'm tired of running around." "He wasn't really tired," David recalls, "just giving a kid a break—a reason to be backstage." O'Neill continued to work part time for MPR until his graduation from the University of Minnesota, then full time as the company's historian and archivist, and in managerial positions, including the design manager for MPR's new headquarters. Today, he is APHC's marketing director, serving as media contact and liaison to the 500-plus stations that carry the show.

Venue Information

The Town Hall

"Not a bad seat in the house." That's been The Town Hall's motto almost from the beginning, when a group of suffragists hired architectural firm McKim, Mead & White to build a hall for their organization, the League for Political Education. The design had no box seats and no columns to obstruct anyone's view. Hence, the slogan. Since its opening on January 12, 1921, this building has seen its share of stunning performances and historic controversy. Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay made her public debut here, as did singer Marian Anderson. Birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger was arrested and carted off the stage during a speech. There were lectures by Theodore Roosevelt, Booker T. Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt and countless others, in addition to 20 years' worth of American Town Meetings of the Air radio broadcasts, launched by NBC in 1935. Performers from Billie Holiday to Bob Dylan, Ruth St. Denis to Ravi Shankar have entertained Town Hall audiences - more than eight decades of music and dance and ideas. And still not a bad seat in the house.