My Prairie Home Movie

We break for lunch after blocking for a performance by Meryl and Lily singing “My Minnesota Home,” another Garrison original. I introduce myself to Meryl, who says she’s a “big fan” and loves the radio show. I meet Lily, and she recognizes me from our APHC appearance at the Hollywood Bowl in June. It’s all pretty heady stuff. I meet Virginia Madsen, who plays “The Dangerous Woman,” and commiserate about her shoes, high platforms that look pretty uncomfortable. My costume is a button-down shirt, a wool vest, black slacks, with a Leatherman tool on my belt, and new shoes, which start digging into my ankles immediately. I beg the wardrobe person, Cat Thomas, to let me wear my own broken-in casual shoes. No problem. I talk to Garrison about my character. When I tell him I am considering giving Al a light Minnesota accent, long o’s included, he advises me not to box myself into a corner or I won’t have anywhere to go with my voice in later scenes when I have to get really agitated. Good advice.

After lunch, it’s time for Meryl and Lily to sing. Judy is in the audience for both performances and is in tears both times—the songs are that moving. We wrap at 9:00 p.m. or so. It’s been quite a day. So far, no lines, but I’m always in some camera shot so I have to look like I’m in charge.

Wednesday, July 6
The call time today, and pretty much for most of the shoot, is 11 a.m., which is nice, because I’ve decided to keep working at WCCO Radio as entertainment editor for The Morning News with Dave Lee from 5 to 9 a.m. Today’s shoot features Lindsay singing a fractured version of “Frankie and Johnny,” which leads to songs with Jearlyn Steele and then to the show finale and curtain bow. Cameras are set by 1:00 p.m. Bob usually arrives at noon to discuss shots and camera movements, then we rehearse and shoot. During the noon hour, I camp out in Guy Noir’s office with Woody. He’s plunking away at his guitar and says, “You’re awfully quiet.” I introduce myself and tell him I play the stage manager. “Do we have any scenes together?” he asks. I tell him about the scene where I scold Dusty about an obscene song the Singing Cowboys sang. I give him a few raunchy titles Dusty might use, and he likes the idea. We talk about our mutual friend, Chris Mulkey, a fine character actor who worked with Woody last winter in the Charlize Theron movie North Country, which was shot on the Iron Range. Meanwhile, John C. is now entertaining the set with two lariats. Local entertainer Pops Wagner has been giving him lessons, and he’s a fast learner.

We’re ready to go at 1 p.m., and Lindsay runs through her number before the audience of extras. She does a great job. I introduce myself to Lindsay, who is very tiny, but not dangerously thin as the tabloids had been reporting. She looks like a perfectly normal teenager. She says “hi” in a pleasant way, but I’m thinking she’s thinking, “Back off, geezer.” After several takes, we break at 4:30 p.m.

At 5:45 p.m., we’re back to block a scene involving Meryl, Lily, Lindsay, Maya Rudolph, who plays “Molly, the Stage Manager’s Assistant,” and me. I read the clock, which Maya has secretly tinkered with, and see that we have six not two minutes left, whereupon I ask Meryl and Lily if they have anything that long to fill the time. Meryl uses the opportunity to get Lindsay to sing something. This scene leads up to the shot we did this afternoon. Very little, it seems, is shot in sequence in a Hollywood movie.

Thursday, July 7
We’re shooting a scene with Garrison and Meryl singing a duet, then Meryl and Lily join Garrison and Tom Keith, the “Sound Effects Man,” in a series of commercials, including one for duct tape, at which point Maya runs out with the wrong script and the group has to ad lib as scripts tumble to the floor. Then I run out to try to help and chaos reigns supreme. Finally, Jearlyn sings a coffee commercial. It’s a nine-minute scene and requires a few takes to get the timing down. This is quite a workout for Maya, who is expecting a child in November with director Paul Thomas Anderson, who’s consulting on the film.

After the dinner break, we start with a shot that involves some complicated camera moves as we follow The Dangerous Woman down the long atrium alley through Guy Noir’s office, at which point Kevin follows Virginia to my desk where they have a dialogue. Because of the camera setups, my back, elbow, or more probably my bald spot, is needed in the shot, which means I stand at my post until about 10:15 p.m. I have the script in front of me on my podium, and before the first rehearsal, Kevin asks me about a line. When the rehearsal starts, he pauses at the spot he asked me about, so I give him the missing word. Kevin says, “I’m acting, Darling,” and Virginia says, “We’ll tell you when we need a line.” Ooops! I never claimed to be a veteran at this. I apologize to them after rehearsal, and Virginia laughingly says, “That’s OK, you were just being the Stage Manager.” Yeah, that’s right—I’m a Method actor. That’s the ticket!