Garrison Keillor will bring “A Prairie Home Companion” back to its longtime home, St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater, on July 12 and 13 as part of a tour celebrating the former Minnesota Public Radio show’s 50th anniversary.

Tickets prices start at $49.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday through Axs.

Keillor, 81, created “A Prairie Home Companion,” which debuted on July 6, 1974, in a live broadcast from the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College. In 1978, the show moved to St. Paul’s World Theater, which MPR later purchased and, in 1994, renamed the Fitzgerald Theater in honor of St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Inspired by old-school variety shows, “A Prairie Home Companion” featured a live cast and guest musicians who performed musical numbers and comic skits. At its peak, the show drew four million listeners weekly on nearly 700 public radio stations. The late Robert Altman directed a 2006 film based on the show that was shot at the Fitzgerald and starred a large ensemble cast that included Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Keillor playing himself.

After years of speculation, Keillor announced he was retiring from the show in 2015 and hosted the final episode on July 1, 2016, at the the Hollywood Bowl before an audience of 18,000. Mandolinist Chris Thile took over as the host.

In November 2017, MPR terminated all business relationships with Keillor after allegations of inappropriate behavior with a woman who worked with him. Keillor denied it and posted, and then later removed, a Facebook message that read: “It’s astonishing that fifty years of hard work can be trashed in a morning by an accusation. … Only a friend can hurt you this badly. I think I have to leave the country in order to walk around in public and not feel accusing glances.”

As Keillor owned the rights to the “A Prairie Home Companion,” MPR renamed it “Live from Here.” In 2019, the show relocated to New York City before it was canceled in 2020. In 2018, MPR sold the Fitzgerald to First Avenue, which has run it in the time since.

Keillor put his St. Paul home on Summit Avenue up for sale in 2018 and sold his St. Paul bookstore Common Good Books the following year. He has continued to tour and write both books and columns.

The 50th anniversary “A Prairie Home Companion” tour began last week in Nashville and will visit a dozen other cities. Keillor will be joined by a handful of of familiar faces, including music director Rich Dworsky and actors Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman.

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