BRATTLEBORO-Prairie Home Companion alum Garrison Keillor with special guest Richard Dworsky returns tothe Bellows Falls Opera House on Friday, April 17.
For over four decades, Keillor’s mellifluous croon brought America “The News From Lake Wobegon” every Saturday night with A Prairie Home Companion on public radio. Accompanying him for most of those years was pianist Richard Dworsky, who — as a special treat — will be sharing the stage on the April 17 show.
Keillor ended his regular radio days in 2016, but still keeps busy.
“I arise at four most mornings and sit down at my desk, which is a great blessing. It’s what I do. Thanks to the web, you can publish yourself, write a twice-weekly column, and put out a book when it’s done,” says Keillor. “I still do shows, thanks to my producer Sam Hudson and managing director Kate Gustafson. Not the big venues anymore but I’ve come to love old theaters. ... At Tanglewood and Ravinia, you’re awed by the audience but at a small town’s Paramount, Beacon or Majestic, you’re warmed by them. You stand in the wings, the house lights dim, the clapping starts, you walk out onstage, bow — it’s an awfully good life.”
The show is the second of 2026 in the annual series honoring Ray Massucco, a civic-minded attorney, part-time concert promoter and full-time music lover, who died unexpectedly in September, 2022. A group of Vermont friends who had worked with Massucco on Rockingham’s Roots on the River music festival, quickly coalesced around the idea of a concert series.
“Ray loved music, he loved Bellows Falls, and I think he’d be thrilled to see what we have been able to keep doing,” says Ezra Veitch, production manager of Ray’s the Roof.
The Bellows Falls Opera House is located at 7 Village Square. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets and information can be found at BellowsFallsOperaHouse.com.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.