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St. Cloud State University
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"A Prairie Home Companion" entertains SCSU
By Regina Eckes
Published:
Monday, April 28, 2003
Saturday, Garrison Keillor brought "A Prairie Home Companion" to St. Cloud, performing his live radio show in front of a packed crowd in Halenbeck Hall. At 5:00 p.m. millions of people around the world tuned in to hear Keillor's latest jokes, skits and stories from Lake Wobegon.
"A Prairie Home Companion" was started in 1974 by Keillor, and despite how much the show travels from state to state, its home base resides in St. Paul, Minn. The show is created entirely from the mind of Keillor, a Minnesota native. Though he has researchers to give him information about the location they will be performing at, Keillor is the one who puts it all together in the end, constantly rewriting the script, sometimes minutes before they go on the air.
In order to present his ideas on the show, Keillor performs with people such as 10-year regular Tim Russell from WCCO, 11-year regular Sue Scott, sound effects man Tom Keith and "A Prairie Home Companion" Music Director Richard Dworsky.
The two-hour radio show is rather old-fashioned in nature. During skits, actors must alter their voices and create sound effects to fit the scene.
There is usually a guest performance that helps provide music and laughter along the way. And of course, Keillor is able to do his monologue during that last part of the show that wraps up the evening in a nice bow.
Because "A Prairie Home Companion" was located in St. Cloud this week, many of the show's sarcastic and clever remarks dealt with the city and surrounding areas. Keillor was able to weave SCSU into many of his skits. One of which stared Keillor as a private eye who started out at a fraternity house on campus before being cornered by a guy named Rico. He was then sucked into researching French infiltration in America.
"I was there on an undercover job for Babelicious Magazine, researching an article on campus low-life," Keillor said. "I was embedded in the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, but nobody noticed me because they kept the lights so low on account of the hangovers."
The audience laughed every few seconds as the skit went on to ban French words from American culture such as caf� and hamburger. Keillor suggested renaming cafes "eateries" and hamburgers "beef patties" for good. His witty sketch was a satirical way of talking about America's current uneasy situation with France during the War with Iraq. Its lighthearted manner added a touch of humor to a rather depressing subject.
Not only were Keillor's skits and jokes a hit, but his musical guests were welcomed as well. Kustbandet and Tom Paxton performed throughout the show, entertaining the audience with a mix of music from the swing era and classic folk tunes. Kustbandet was put together in 1962 as an amateur group playing at jazz clubs and festivals. The 12-member Swedish band tours all over the world, bringing recognition to Sweden and classic jazz music alike. Tom Paxton has a 40-year career as a folk singer that helped influence the 60s folk scene and was well-known by the audience in St. Cloud.
Kristen Banazack has been listening to Keillor's show for several years from the iron range of Minnesota. She came down to the city to see the live show and has always appreciated the different types of music that are heard every week.
"I just really enjoy the variety of musical guests Garrison invites to be a part of his program," Banazack said. "Sometimes I hear songs that I haven't thought about in years. It brings back a lot of memories, like the swing music here tonight."
Banazack also loves how informational the show can be because of the different locations it is held at every year.
"Through (Keillor's) jokes and stories you learn so much about whatever place the show is broadcasting from. It's a fun way to hear about other parts of the country and how we're so different and so alike," Banazack commented.
For many people, the highlight of the show was hearing Keillor's news from Lake Wobegon, a fictitious place that is loosely based on the small town life of Stearns County and is usually one of the ending segments in the show. His news this week revolved around Easter and the folks of Lake Wobegon coming home and being welcomed back into the community. Hearing about Lake Wobegon often brings Midwestern folks back to their prairie life roots when growing up.
"Lake Wobegon is my favorite part of the show," said Al Tiller, a Minneapolis resident who spent part of his childhood in St. Cloud. "It keeps me reminded of growing up in a smaller town, not a big city. His stories poke a little fun at people, but it always has a good message too."
Regardless of whether people were hearing "A Prairie Home Companion" for the thousandth time or the first time, they heard clever jokes, rousing swing music, sarcastic humor and folk tunes. The audience was part of a live show that carried the nostalgia of a small town into the bigger city of St. Cloud and left them with a sense of community and wellness.
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