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Host Garrison Keillor answers your questions about life, love, writing, authors, and of course, A Prairie Home Companion.
Rainbow Connection
June 24, 2008 | 5 Comments

Post to the Host:
My family and I had the a great time at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, this past weekend. The show was great, but the thunderstorm provided a special show in itself. The invitation of the lawn audience into the cover of the canopy and everyone's efforts to accommodate the unique circumstances reassured me that PHC audiences are the kind of people I like to be with.
As a special treat after a majority of the crowd had left and the sun was setting on the longest day of the year we were amazed to see a double rainbow over the parking lot as we returned to our car. This was not a just a run of the mill rainbow, you could see both the beginning and end of the rainbow on the horizon. The parts near the tree line were practically florescent in intensity.
It was a great way to end a great day.
How did you arrange it?
Bob W.
Toledo,Ohio
I saw that rainbow, Bob, though not the florescent part — I was standing under the shell afterward talking to people. There were a couple of 14-year-old girls named Isabella and Julianna from Akron who gave me a CD they made singing some songs from the movie (with their faces morphed into a picture of Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin) and also an original skit entitled "Swimming Can Be Very Fun" and there was a lovely young woman walking with canes who had had surgery to remove a brain tumor and whose brain, aside from the part that runs her legs, seemed to be firing on all six cylinders. There was a man named Fritz and an Extremely Shy Woman and a woman who makes new blends of tea and there was a tall young man of 17 or so who is a long-distance runner and also a writer. There were small children and a couple of ancient people and a woman from Pennsylvania and dozens of others. Also memorable was the temporary loss of power in the hall, which hit about five minutes into the broadcast. Robin and Linda Williams and the Shoe Band and I were singing the Beach Boys' "I Get Around" and suddenly the stage went dark and the P.A. dead and the crowd went OHHHHH and we kept singing and soon, bit by bit, everything came back. We knew the storm was coming and during the warmup I took a wireless mic up the hill and sang some Elvis songs walking through the crowd as the rain started to come down and as the ushers opened up the fence and let the hill-sitters down into the covered seats. So it all turned out well. None of the people I saw afterward seemed bedraggled or crestfallen. The show loaded out in a couple hours and the next morning I was at the Cleveland airport and flew home to more rainshowers in Minnesota. Looked for a rainbow and didn't see one.
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Complete Post to the Host Archive
Heidi E, | June 24, 2008 10:54 AM
GK,
I too was in the audience (first time ever!) with my mom (it was a belated Mother's Day gift)and we just loved the show!! I blogged about it this morning (URL in this post's comment form).
Great job! I hope to get to see you live again!
Always,
Heidi E.
Unofficial member of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of P.O.E.M =)
jim s | June 24, 2008 1:32 PM
Typical GK. Part genius, part St. Francis, part King of the World. At least, his part.
Sandy Gilman | June 24, 2008 7:24 PM
Dear Garrison,
Oh those lucky people who conversed with
you after the show.
At the Greek in L.A. we saw you standing alone
on stage when we were heading for the
exit, but the security
guards weren't letting anyone near the
stage.
I love the way the tech people in
Cuyahoga Falls announced
there was a problem with the "hamsters" that
were creating the power, and then went
on to play music from the Guy's All Star
Shoe Band!
I wish just once I could experience the kind
of rain you're talkin' about, but I'm
afraid that won't happen too soon in
San Clemente, CA.
Sandy
Mary Jane Hefner | June 27, 2008 11:14 AM
We traveled from North Carolina to Ohio to see your show. My husband and I are long time fans. We found your show shortly after we got married and had no money for Saturday night on the town. We have been married 28 years and it was a very special show because our anniversary is June 21th. Thanks for a good time and for the autograph of our LBW's. We are very excited (as much as a Lutheran can get excited) to go to church Sunday.
Winston-Salem, NC
Mary Jane H.
gerry mantel | July 9, 2008 10:32 AM
I was at that show, too, my first-ever live Prairie performance!
The rainbow that's been referenced was magnificent and, given the evening's great joy, very appropriate!
Jorma Kaukonen and Barry M. were wonderful, hope to see (or hear) them again on the show.