Like his long-running, much-beloved NPR show, A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor manages to pack a bunch of contradictory elements into one genial package; he mixes lefty politics with folksy warmth, a satirical bent with a wry tolerance of humanity’s foibles. It’s a tricky balance to maintain, but he’s done so for more than 30 years, not only on the radio but in books, newspaper columns, movies and now in a one-man show. Tampa Bay audiences who listen to Prairie on WUSF-FM are accustomed to Keillor being the center of a multitalented troupe of radio actors and crackerjack musicians; it ought to be interesting to see what happens when he has the entire stage to himself during "A Very Special Evening with Garrison Keillor." One thing seems certain: We’ll hear at least a few self-deprecating jokes about Lutherans, Minnesotans and other denizens of Keillor’s imaginary Lake Woebegon. Sun., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., Progress Energy Center for the Arts/Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg, $47-$77, 727-892-5767.
This article appears in Nov 12-18, 2008.