Garrison Keillor Comes to SOPAC 11/28

Garrison Keillor, beloved writer, radio personality and performer will grace the SOPAC stage Tuesday, November 28, at 7:30 p.m. He will be joined by long-time friends and radio co-stars Robin and Linda Williams, who have been performing for over forty years.

Keillor got his start in broadcasting in 1969 for Minnesota Public Radio. After four years at the station he developed his own variety show A Prairie Home Companion, a weekly monologue depicting life in a small fictional Minnesota town, Lake Wobegon. The show involved musical acts, skits, and fake advertisements. The show was nominated for 23 awards, and won two ACE awards for Best Entertainment Host and Best Music Host, and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Garrison Keillor is also the recipient of George Foster Peabody awards, the National Humanities Medal, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2006 his hit variety show made the move to the silver screen in a film adaption directed by the late Robert Altman, starring Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, and Kevin Kline. Keillor retired as the host of A Prairie Home Companion in 2016, but retained his position as Executive Producer. In addition to his many other accolades he is also an accomplished writer and poet and hosts The Writers Almanac, a podcast and website dedicated to poetry and prose.

Joining Garrison Keillor will be his long-time cohorts from A Prairie Home Companion Robert and Linda Williams. The dynamic duo has been making music for over 40 years, creating a robust blend of Bluegrass, Folk, old-time and acoustic Country that combines wryly observant lyrics with a wide-ranging melodicism that today some might call Americana. They got their start making music for A Prairie Home Companion, and since have released over a dozen studio albums, and attained critical and commercial success. The New York Times raved, " ... vocally and instrumentally, the Williamses combine impeccable musical discipline with a bare simplicity and an utter lack of pretension." They went on to tour and perform as a duo when not with A Prairie Home Companion, but continued to build a lasting relationship with Keillor, who produced several songs for them. They still tour the country, bringing with them the theme of home and heartfelt love as they play songs old and new. They will take the stage with Garrison Keillor to reminisce, and create two hours of a singular performance that is sure to delight audiences with its gentle humor and stellar musicianship.

Garrison Keillor will make the South Orange Performing Arts Center his own on Tuesday November 28 at 7:30 p.m. with Robert and Linda Williams. Tickets are $66-$88 and go on sale May 19 at noon. They can be purchased online at http://www.sopacnow.org/garrison-keillor/ or by calling the box office at (973) 313-2787.

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