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Jun 26, 2005 1:11 pm US/Central
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Shooting For Keillor's Movie Begins Wednesday
St. Paul (AP) ―
Shooting begins Wednesday on a film version of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion," bringing creator Garrison Keillor and director Robert Altman together with a star-studded cast.
Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, Woody Harrelson and Lily Tomlin all have roles in the behind-the-scenes comedy-drama about the fictional final broadcast of Keillor's weekly radio show.
The movie is being shot almost entirely in downtown St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater, home base for the real show. A few scenes involving grizzled detective Guy Noir will take place nearby at Mickey's Diner.
These have not been quiet weeks in Lake Wobegon for Keillor. Next weekend, he launches a weekly newspaper column. Meanwhile, his radio show and its nonbroadcast spinoff, "The Rhubarb Tour," will visit a dozen more places by Labor Day.
About a dozen newspapers have signed up for the column, according to Tribune Media Services.
"Big mistake," Keillor joked. "Why do I need another weekly deadline?"
Politics won't be the main thrust, he said.
"It's supposed to be funny and original. I don't want to climb up into the pulpit and start preaching."
He released a children's book and CD this spring and he's compiled a poetry anthology due in stores this fall. He has two more books in the works.
That's all in addition to the restaurant in the central Minnesota town of Avon in which he recently invested, and his ongoing radio commitments.
"I'm not busy," Keillor insisted. "A woman with three children under the age of 10 wouldn't think my schedule looked so busy."
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)