I have wanted to see this show live for some time. A few years ago I did some preliminary planning, I looked at the website and the shows, and it didn’t seem all that easy for out of staters to get tickets. I think that has changed, or, more probably, I just don’t remember correctly, but I’m ready to talk about making a trip.
What I am most interested in is hearing from anyone who’s seen the show. I know there’s a bunch of Dopers in MN, anyone? Should I wait till later in the year for the weather to get better? I might try driving, but it would be a long trip, almost 12 hours according to Yahoo maps. I have no real idea what the trip would be, but most likely just a three-day weekend, leave on Friday, come back Sunday, babysitters and work being difficult sometimes. And some suggestions about St Paul would also be welcome, I suppose.
I just saw a performance of PHC earlier this month, but I saw the Friday “dress rehearsal” and not the Saturday broadcast performance (which was sold out). You’d never know the difference, though, and it was a fantastic show. I was by myself, so it was no problem getting tickets at the door the night of the show. You might want to call ahead to see the availability of the Friday night performances (if that’s manageable for you, schedule-wise).
If you’re worried about the weather, you’d better come in December. January can be colder than…<insert metaphor here>. Not too much with the snow…usually. If you’re going to come all this way in the winter though, you really should see the St. Paul Winter Carnival, 1/28/05 - 2/6/05. It’ll be cold then, but it’s the good kind of cold.
I’ve never been, but I know plenty of people who have. I don’t think its too difficult to get tickets. MPR members can order them earlier - I’m sure they’d sell you a membership.
Don’t end up in St. Paul over the Winter Carnival. Or do, but it will be difficult to get tickets to the show, eat in restaurants or move around. I once tried to get a sick kid to Children’s Hospital in downtown St. Paul during the Winter Carnival. I was ready to start running people over. Also watch the Wild schedule - hockey games can make life in St. Paul more difficult.
Its easy to get around St. Paul on foot (if the weather isn’t too cold). You might want to plan Spring just for that reason, that way you can park your car in the hotel lot and leave it there. But there is plenty of parking near the Fitz, and probably cheaper hotels outside of downtown.
St. Paul does roll up its sidewalks evenings and weekends, it isn’t a really happening place. Better now than it used to be.
I live a block from the Fitzgerald Theatre where it’s hosted in downtown St Paul. Coincidentally, I just bought tickets yesterday for this Friday’s dress rehearsal (but shh, don’t tell my bf, it’s a surprise.) The tickets are normally $20.00 but if you go to the Ticketmaster office in Marshall Fields and ask for the TC TIX discount, you’ll get 'em half off. (But with Ticketmaster charges et al, it ended up being $30.10 for two tickets, still a bargain.) The main show on Saturday is usually an MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) sell-out before it hits Ticketmaster.
BUT (and what a big butt that is) there’s one other way to get in. Around 2-3pm on the Saturday of the main performance (Sometimes even around noon), a line begins to curl around the Fitzgerald theatre building with people waiting to get rush tickets. The sale for those starts at 4:15 but you see the masses with their lawn chairs and thermoses steaming with coffee and cocoa waitin’ for them.
The PHC is coming back to New York City the 1st four Saturdays of April 2005. They’ll be broadcasting from Town Hall - I think the last time I was there, Warren Zevon played.
This will be my first time seeing The Prairie Home Companion; Garrison Keillor, the Guys All Start Shoe Band, et al. Advance tickets sales are available online starting 1/24/2005 at 1PM local time. (Not that I’m expecting hoards of New Yorkers to make a b-line to Ticketmaster when they go on sale to the public.
