A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Arlo Guthrie and the Lost World Tour

At the 1967 Newport Folk Festival, 20-year-old Arlo Guthrie took the stage, sang “Alice's Restaurant,” and was catapulted into a career that is now into its fifth decade. Son of the legendary Woody Guthrie, Arlo soaked up folk music from his dad and family friends such as Pete Seeger and Leadbelly. But he has also branched out with “An American Scrapbook,” a program of symphonic arrangements of his own songs and other American classics, and his award-winning children's book, Mooses Come Walking, illustrated by Alice M. Brock (that Alice). The Old Trinity Church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts — once Alice’s home — is now home to the Guthrie Center and the Guthrie Foundation, formed to help local cultures preserve traditional music, stories, medicine, dance and spiritual practices. Guthrie’s recent recordings include 32¢ Postage Due and In Times Like These, both on Rising Son Records. Arlo Guthrie and the Lost World Tour includes Abe Guthrie (keyboards), Bobby Sweet (guitar), Terry A La Berry (drums), Jody Lampro (bass), and the Burns Sisters — Jeannie, Annie and Marie (vocals).

Lara Herscovitch

Singer-songwriter Lara Herscovitch has had a number of career options. She trained as a macro social worker, focusing on education, community development, human services and the environment. She worked in locations in the U.S., Latin America and Asia, and currently she is senior policy analyst for the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance. But since she started writing songs at the age of eight, music has been a central part of her life. Now she performs in clubs, coffeehouses and music festivals throughout the Northeast and beyond. She was recently named Connecticut State Troubadour for 2009 and 2010. In this capacity, she serves as an ambassador of music and song to encourage cultural literacy and to promote the state. Lara’s latest CD is titled Through a Frozen Midnight Sky (La Rama Records).

Richard Dworsky

Richard Dworsky, who week in and week out leads A Prairie Home Companion’s Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band, is a classically trained pianist and composer who rocks, swings, plays great blues and gospel, tears it up on Hammond B3 organ, and keeps up with world-class pickers playing his unique “bluegrass piano” style. He writes all APHC’s script themes and underscores, and during his 16-year stint, he has accompanied guests from James Taylor to Renée Fleming. His latest CD is So Near and Dear to Me (Prairie Home Productions).

The Palace Theater

The Palace Theater — originally the Poli Palace and later Loew’s Poli Palace — was built by impresario Sylvester Z. Poli. On the morning of the grand opening, January 28, 1922, a headline in The Waterbury Republican announced: “Rich Beauty of Splendid New Playhouse Will Appeal to the Artistic Senses of Every Waterbury Theater-Goer.” The venue is indeed an eye-popper. Designed by noted theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, the Palace featured an eclectic mix of styles and motifs. Every detail had been meticulously thought out, from the grand lobby spaces, ornate ceilings and pipe organ to the luxurious boxes, private parlors and telephone booths. The projection room was state-of-the-art. There was even a sprinkler system for safety. At the time, it was considered the premier performance venue in the Northeast. But as the decades past, the Palace fell into disrepair, and in 1987 the doors closed. The once-fabulous edifice sat unused until 2004, when a multimillion-dollar effort restored the Palace Theater to its former glory.