The Prairie Home Companion

Saturday, 1 December 2007, 5:45 pm
New York City, Town Hall

For years, we've been promising ourselves to grab an live taping of PHC when it makes its annual stay in NYC. This year, a friend and fellow PHC enthusiast, snatched tickets as soon as they went on sale and invited us to go with her.

In addition to the regular cast, Inge Sweeringen, Joe Ely (from Lubbock, Texas!), and Joel Guzman performed. Ely, backed by Guzman's accordian, performed several ballads--much better suited for this than providing two-step tunes at Cold Water Country thirty years ago. Sweeringen's jazz renditions and scat-singing were in the Ella Fitzgerald tradition.

My favorite comedy sketch was the parody, "Sounds of Sickness," probably because I've been suffering from a head cold for over a week. Interesting to watch him extemporous the "Lake Woobegone" tales.