ABOUT THE FILM |
SOUNDTRACK |
CAST & PROFILES |
ROBERT ALTMAN |
PHOTOS |
VIDEOS |
LINKS |
NEWS
Director Robert Altman and writer Garrison Keillor join forces with an all-star cast to create a comic backstage fable, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, about a fictitious radio variety show that has managed to survive in the age of television. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin star as the Johnson Sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda, a country duet act that has survived the county-fair circuit, and Lindsay Lohan plays Meryl’s daughter, Lola, who gets her big chance to sing on the show and then forgets the words. Kev-
in Kline is Guy Noir, a private eye down on his luck who works as a backstage doorkeeper, and Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are Dusty and Lefty, the Old Trailhands, a singing cowboy act. Add Virginia Madsen as an angel and Tommy Lee Jones as the Axeman and Maya Rudolph as a pregnant stagehand and Keillor in the role of hangdog emcee, and you have a playful story set on a rainy Saturday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, where fans file into the Fitzgerald Theater to see “A Prairie Home Companion,” a staple of radio station WLT, not knowing that WLT has been sold to a Texas conglomerate and that tonight’s show will be the last.
Shot entirely in the Fitzgerald, except for the opening and closing scenes which take place in a nearby diner, the picture combines Altman's cinematic style and intelligence and love of improvisation and Keillor's songs and storytelling to create a fictional counterpart to the "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show. The film uses the musicians and crew and stage setting of the actual radio show, heard on public radio stations coast to coast for the past quarter-century (and which, in real life, continues to broadcast). The result is a compact tale with a series of extraordinary acting turns.
The soundtrack to Robert Altman's take on Garrison Keillor's radio show features 25 songs. If you are an avid A Prairie Home Companion listener, you know what to expect: a delightful mix of music and fun by APHC regulars including the Guy's All Star Shoe Band, Robin & Linda Williams and Jearlyn Steele, among others, plus some amazing music by a diverse slate of guest performers. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin duet as the singing Johnson sisters on "My Minnesota Home" and "Goodbye to my Mama." Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly appear as Dusty and Lefty, the singing cowboys, and warble "Whoopi Ti Yi Yo" and the crowd pleasing but crusty song "Bad Jokes." Lindsay Lohan delivers "Frankie and Johnny". Overall, 60 minutes of pure prairie home bliss.
The deluxe version of the soundtrack also contains a DVD featuring 10 complete musical performances that are cut short in the movie. Watch and listen as Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson and all the APHC regulars entertain you.
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TRACK LISTING:
Tishomingo Blues - Garrison Keillor
Gold Watch and Chain - G. and M. Streep
Mudslide - The Guys All-Star Shoe Band
Let Your Light Shine On Me
Coffee Jingle - G. and Jearlyn Steele
Summit Avenue Rag
Guy's Shoes
Whoop-I-Ti-Yi-Yo - Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly
Coming Down From Red Lodge
You Have Been A Friend To Me - L.Q. Jones
Old Plank Road - Robin and Linda Williams
My Minnesota Home - Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin
A Bunch Of Guys
Slow Days Of Summer - Garrison Keillor
Frankie and Johnny - Lindsay Lohan
Waitin' For You
Jens Jensen's Herring - G. Keillor and Tim Russell
Red River Valley - G. Keillor and Jearlyn Steele
Strappin' the Strings
Goodbye To My Mama - Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin
Bad Jokes - Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly
The Day Is Short - Jearlyn Steele
Atlanta Twilight
Red River Valley / In The Sweet By And By - the Cast
Guy Noir
DELUXE EDITION SPECIAL FOOTAGE:
My Minnesota Home Meryl Streep & Lily Tomlin
WHOOP-I-TI-YI-YO Woody Harrelson & John C. Reilly
Slow Days Of Summer Garrison Keillor
Coming Down From Red Lodge All-Star Shoe Band
I Used To Work In Chicago (Take 1) Harrelson & Reilly
I Used To Work In Chicago (Take 2) Harrelson & Reilly
Softly And Tenderly Meryl Streep & Lily Tomlin
Waitin.r You The Guys All-Star Shoe Band
Atlanta Twilight The Guys All-Star Shoe Band
Catchup (And Then Some) Garrison Keillor
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Click a picture to launch the actor's IMDB profile:
Throughout his extraordinary career, Robert Altman has surprised, entertained and challenged audiences with vibrant, freewheeling films that stretch the boundaries of the medium. He was the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award® at the 78th Academy Awards presentation on March 5, 2006, in a ceremony recognizing “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike."
Altman’s more than thirty features bear witness to an extraordinary creative range: films made with enormous casts (NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS) aswell as
with a solitary cast member (SECRET HONOR); films celebrating male camaraderie (M*A*S*H*, CALIFORNIA SPLIT) and those exploring women’s consciousness (IMAGES, THREE WOMEN, COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN). He has inverted, satirized and enriched genres like the western (McCABE AND MRS. MILLER), the gangster melodrama (THIEVES LIKE US), the detective film (THE LONG GOODBYE), the biography (VINCENT AND THEO) and the English drawing-room whodunit (GOSFORD PARK). His source material has included comics (POPEYE), the ballet (THE COMPANY), the theatre (STREAMERS, FOOL FOR LOVE, Harold Pinter’s THE ROOM and THE DUMB WAITER), contemporary politics (“Tanner ’88” and “Tanner on Tanner”) and contemporary literature (SHORT CUTS).
Altman’s work with actors is legendary. His use of music has broken ground in films as different as McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, NASHVILLE, and KANSAS CITY. He has been applauded for the technical innovation of multi-layered soundtracks and for his pioneering use of the zoom lens. While his subjects and themes
have been diverse, he has often cast an irreverent eye on the institutions, mores and foibles of American life, matching that with an encompassing, unsentimental humanism.
Altman has received five Academy Award® nominations for Best Director (GOSFORD PARK, SHORT CUTS, THE PLAYER, M*A*S*H*, and NASHVILLE), and three for Best Film (GOSFORD PARK, M*A*S*H*, and NASHVILLE).
Altman’s numerous awards include: at Cannes, the Palme d’Or/Best Film (M*A*S*H*), and Best Director (THE PLAYER); the New York Film Critics Circle, Best Film (THE PLAYER, NASHVILLE) and Best Director (GOSFORD PARK, THE PLAYER, NASHVILLE); the Venice Film Festival Grand Prix, Best Film (SHORT CUTS); the British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best British Film (GOSFORD PARK), Best Director (THE PLAYER) and Best Foreign Television Series (“Tanner 88”); opening night of the New York Film Festival (SHORT CUTS, A WEDDING); and an Emmy for Best Director (“Tanner ’88”).
Career honors have been bestowed by, among others, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Venice Film Festival, the American Film Institute, the Directors Guild of America, the Society of American Cinema Editors, the Cinema Audio Society, the American Society of Cinematographers and the Independent Feature Project.
Production Stills
Behind the Scenes
New York Premiere, June 04, 2006
Hollywood Superbowl's "Prairie" Evening, June 02, 2006
Minnesota Screening, May 03, 2006
Minnesota Press Conference, May 03, 2006
Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep at the Academy Awards, March 05, 2006
Berlin Film Festival Television Reports, February 13, 2006
Berlin Film Festival Press Conference, February 13, 2006
World premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, February 13, 2006
Additional Information at the Internet Movie Database
Full cast & credits, trivia and business information
A Prairie Home Companion Movie
Official Website movie website with trailers, photos and downloads
A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor
Official Website on the radio show with photos, a blog and more
Virginia Madsen.com
Unofficial Fansite on actress Virginia Madsen
Kevin Kline - as in the *Actor* - Online
Unofficial Fansite on actor Kevin Kline
Lohan Online
Unofficial Fansite on actress Lindsay Lohan
Lily Tomlin.com
Official Website on actress Lindsay Lohan
Have a look at the production progress of Meryl's involvement with "A Prairie Home Companion",
starting with the announcement of her joining until the films' premiere. |
Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep and More Set for Hollywood Bowl's Prairie Evening
Posted: 2006-05-25 |
Coinciding with the release of the new film "A Prairie Home Companion," the Hollywood Bowl will
present A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor June 2. The 8 PM evening at the famed
outdoor theatre will be hosted by Garrison Keillor and will feature Tim Russell, Sue Scott,
Fred Newman and Guy's All-Star Shoe Band. Special guests for the evening will include Kevin
Kline, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly and Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. "America's
favorite storyteller, Garrison Keillor," reads production notes, "brings us The News From Lake
Wobegon plus special guests for a live performance of the ever-popular radio show. It's an
evening of music, storytelling, comedy and down-home fun." Robert Altman directed "A Prairie
Home Companion," which is due in movie theatres this summer. The film, which follows the final
broadcast of a popular radio show, features Kline, Madsen, Reilly and Streep as well as Woody
Harrelson, Lily Tomlin, Lindsay Lohan, Tommy Lee Jones and Matthew Modine. The Hollywood Bowl
is located at 2301 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, CA. Tickets are available by calling
(323) 850-2000. Visit www.hollywoodbowl.org for more information.
Actress Streep, Lohan grace W magazine cover
Posted: 2006-04-07 |
The May 2006 issue of "W" Magazine will feature the stars of the upcoming "A Prairie Home
Companion", Meryl Streep and Lindsay Lohan, on its cover. The magazine is also going to feature
an insightful article on their film, their relationship to each other and their upcoming
projects.
Stars sing on "A Prairie Home Companion"
Posted: 2006-03-27 |
Lindsay Lohan, Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly and Lily Tomlin will all sing on the soundtrack to the movie "A Prairie Home Companion."
The album from the Robert Altman film will come out May 23 on New Line Records, Billboard.com reported.
The album will also include original songs written and performed by "Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor and his Shoe Band, Billboard said.
New Line is releasing a 25-track CD along with a deluxe edition that includes a DVD of music outtakes from the film based on Keillor's radio show.
The film is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters June 6.
"A Prairie Home Companion" at the San Francisco Film Festival
Posted: 2006-03-16 |
The San Francisco Film Society, presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival
(April 20-May 4) features Robert's Altman latest movie, "A Prairie Home Companion", for the
Closing Night of the Festival, on May 4, at 7.00pm, at the Castro Theater. Tickets for the
general public are $25 and will be available on April 4---Tickets for San Francisco Film
Society members are $20 and will go on sale on March 28. For more ticket information please
visit
http://www.sffs.org.
Actresses Tomlin, Streep, honor director Altman with Honorary Oscar
Posted: 2006-03-05 |
Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep, who play sisters in Robert Altman's upcoming comedy "A Prairie
Home Companion", have taken the stage at the 78th Academy Awards to present their director with
his Lifetime Achievement Oscar. Both actresses did a masterly, breathless impression of a film
by special honoree Robert Altman, replete with overlapping dialogue, half-finished thoughts
and constant interruptions, a double virtuoso performance.
Streep expected to attend Berlin Film Festival
Posted: 2006-01-31 |
According to German news sources, actors George Clooney, Isabella Rossellini, Meryl Streep and Isabelle
Huppert, among others, are all expected to attend the Berlin Film Festival this year. Meryl's
new film, "A Praire Home Companion", will have its world-premiere at the festival. Screening
dates and official announcements on the attending guests will be made in early February.
"A Prairie Home Companion" to world-premiere at the Berlin Film Festival
Posted: 2006-01-18 |
The Berlinale Competition is screening the world premiere of A Prairie Home Companion (USA),
an ensemble comedy by master director Robert Altman. The story is about a legendary radio show
which is taken off the air after thirty years. Altman, the winner of several Berlinale prizes,
has assembled an unparalleled cast of stars, including Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, Woody
Harrelson, Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly. Visit the Berlinale's
Official Website.
"Prairie Home" to open South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival in Austin
Posted: 2006-01-05 |
Yet another festival release for "A Prairie Home Companion": The 2006 South by Southwest (SXSW)
Film Conference & Festival in Austin, TX will open on March 10th with the North American
premiere of Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion," organizers announced Monday. The
festival will conclude on March 18th.
"Prairie" was acquired by Picturehouse back in October and is described as a fictionalized
look at preparations for what could be the final episode of Garrison Keillor's legendary radio
program, exploring the fallout over a big corporation buying the theater home of the weekly
radio show. According to Picturehouse, "As passions erupt, secrets emerge and a mysterious
stranger lurks in the shadows, the vigilant stage manger must hold it all together since the
'show must go on'." Set for a June release, the film was written by Altman and Keillor.
You can read the complete article
here.
"A Prairie Home Companion" to premiere at the 2006 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
Posted: 2005-12-15 |
According to this
source, scheduled for the upcoming festival are a special
presentation of Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" and a screening of the Robert
Altman feature film based on Keillor's radio program, as well as a performance of Jim
Henson's "Puppet Improv." The festival is running from March 8-12, 2006 in Aspen, Colorado.
More info can be found on their
Official Website.
"Prairie Home" Movie To Be Released Next Summer
Posted: 2005-11-01 |
According to AP, "A Prairie Home Companion" will be released next summer by Picturehouse
Films after being bought for North American distribution when it was screened for buyers in
New York. Picturehouse president Bob Berney said the film was hilarious and said that he saw
potential for wide commercial success. "I was blown away. It was through the roof," he said in
a telephone interview. The Altman film, based on Garrison Keillor's long-running radio
program, was shot in St. Paul with a cast including Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Tommy Lee
Jones, Woody Harrelson, Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline. The working title was "The Last Broadcast,"
but Berney, aiming to capitalize on the name recognition of the 31-year-old radio program,
recommended that the title revert to "A Prairie Home Companion."
"A Prairie Home Companion" to be "The Last Broadcast"?
Posted: 2005-08-14 |
According to various sources, including
this article
by the Star Tribune, "A Prairie Home Compan-ion"'s release title will be "The Last Broadcast". I guess
we'll have to wait until there's a press release by its studio.
Meryl is shooting "A Prairie Home Companion"
Posted: 2005-07-12 |
It's now confirmed that Meryl is shooting Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion". Also on
board is an all-star cast featuring Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline,
Tommy Lee Jones, Virginia Madsen and Lindsay Lohan.
Production Update on "Prairie Home Companion"
Posted: 2004-10-30 |
According to the Associated Press, Robert Altman's "Prairie Home Companion" is still in financing
status. Screenwriter Garrison Keillor was interviewed by AP and revealed that none of the stars,
including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Tom Waits have yet signed until there's a definite start date.
Keillor also stated he was surprised by the rumor that George Clooney has joined the team. The full
article can be read
here.
Meryl Streep may work with Robert Altman
Posted: 2004-08-04 |
Various sources, including an interview with USA Today, has mentioned Meryl's involvement with the next
Robert Altman film, "Prairie Home Companion". The article quoted her to "play half of a female
country music duo. It used to be a trio and might have been a quartet. We keep losing members".
Shooting begins in January 2005. Yet, Meryl's involvement hasn't been officially announced.
