Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

Rooney Mara was the surprise here, her take as “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was superb, but i still preferred Noomi Rapace’s version in the Swedish original. I thought Michelle was a lock when I saw “My Week With Marilyn”, but the work Meryl did as the “Iron Lady”, especially in the scenes of her playing Margaret Thatcher as an 86 year old, struggling with dementia, was unbelievably good. I think Meryl will finally win again, in spite of the lukewarm reception of the film itself. Looking forward to seeing Glen Close in “Albert Nobbs” this week.

The most interesting acting category will be the Supporting Actress award:

Bérénice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

Melissa McCarthy is having a monster year and this nomination is the icing on the cake. It’s very unusual for the Academy to honor a comedic role, especially in avery raunchy, and very funny, movie like “Bridesmaids” (and I was thrilled that Kristin Wiig was one of the nominees for Original Screenplay), but I think the award will go to Octavia Spenser. I will see Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs” this week, so we’ll see if that alters anything for me.

It was a good day for Brad Pitt with nods for Best Actor and as Producer of “Moneyball” in the Best Picture category. The Best Actor nominees were:

Demián Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Brad was terrific in “Moneyball” and I was so glad to see Demián Bichir, nominated for his brilliant and touching work as an East LA, illegal immigrant, gardener. George Clooney gives one of his best performances in “The Descendants”, but I think the momentum is with “The Artist” and Jean Dujardin.

The Supporting Actor spot had one surprise, a nod for another silent performance, Max Von Sydow as the mute character in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”.

Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

I was glad to see Jonah Hill, a very funny comedic performer, recognized for his nuanced work in “Moneyball”. The only performance I didn’t see here was Nick Nolte’s. Kenneth Branagh was terrific as Sir Lawrence Olivier, but I think the Oscar will go to Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”,  for a great performance, but also as a reward for a lifetime of acting achievement.

Best Foreign Language Film honors will go to “A Separation”, an Iranian film that was one of the very best movies I saw all year. Amazing direction and acting, a movie that you must go out of your way to see, make the effort to find it.

The Best Picture  slot could have included as few as five nominees but the Academy went with nine this year:

“The Artist,” Thomas Langmann, producer
“The Descendants,” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” Scott Rudin, producer
“The Help,” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, producers
“Hugo,” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, producers
“Midnight in Paris,” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, producers
“Moneyball,” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, producers
“The Tree of Life,” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse,” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, producers

This should come down to “The Artist” and “The Descendents” and I think “The Artist”, will squeak out a win here with Michel Hazanavicius getting top directing honors.

The lion’s share of the technical honors will be split between “Hugo”, top nominee getter with 11, and “The Artist”, scoring 10 nomination in all.

The awards will be handed out on February 26 and the show from the Kodak Theater will be aired on ABC. The reliable Billy Crystal is back and I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Tim Russell with Itzhak Perlman at The Town Hall in New York City

We wrapped up “A Prairie Home Companion” four weekend stint at The Town Hall in New York City with one of Garrison Keillor’s most entertaining Holiday Shows ever. Itzahk Perlman joined The Royal Academy of Radio Actors with a sterling perfomance as “Rock Serloin”, subway performer and Perlman wanna-be. The fabulous DiGiallanardo Sisters lent their marvelous harmonies, Itzhak and the Klezmer Conservatory Band collaborated to things moving, and the amazing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings rounded out a wonderfully diverse evening. Check it out at The Prairie Home Companion archive. Next up, a trip to Hawaii for two shows, one live broadcast, on New Years Eve. Happy Holidays to you all from Tim and Sue.

Tim  brought to life a meeting of with God and some of Heavens most celebrated citizens.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ct59inqlFg

Sue convinced Tim to don the Kilt and share a few jokes that tickled the fancy of this proud descendant of Scotland, Tom Keith.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofDM0Ik3pjA

Minnesota Public Radio via Associated Press

“We have  lost a good friend and comrade, Tom Keith, in a shockingly unexpected way. He died on Sunday 10/30 just days after our last show together in St. Paul. We are reeling from the loss.

Garrison wrote a lovely tribute on the Prairie Home Companion website:

“Our colleague the actor and sound-effects man Tom Keith died Sunday night of a heart attack at his home in St. Paul. He performed on the show October 22 at the Fitzgerald with the cast and guest John Lithgow — played a zombie and a beery Elizabethan bartender, did the sound effects for “Lives of the Cowboys” and “Mom” and did a wonderful and shocking sound effect of a grade-school teacher being shrunk from six feet to three inches, using a balloon, some small sticks, and vocal thwops and splorts, and then did the voice of a three-inch-tall female. He complained of shortness of breath the next week, but put off going to see a doctor, and collapsed Sunday night around 6 p.m. He was conscious afterward but died in the ambulance on his way to the hospital.

Tom was one of radio’s great clowns. He was serious about silliness and worked hard to get a moo exactly right and the cluck too and the woof. His whinny was amazing — noble, vulnerable, articulate. He did bagpipes, helicopters, mortars, common drunks, caribou (and elands and elk and wapiti), garbage trucks backing up, handsaws and hammers, and a beautiful vocalization of a man falling from a great height into piranha-infested waters.

He was an engineer at Minnesota Public Radio in 1971, when I did the morning show in the studios in Park Square Court in Lowertown St. Paul, and he took the name Jim Ed Poole, did the sports segment, and talked about his pet chicken, Curtis, who lived with him at the Hotel Transom. When “Prairie Home Companion” started in 1974, he engineered most of the first two seasons, using a five-channel mixer, and then graduated to the stage where he played three roles in the ongoing “Buster the Show Dog” — the dog, Father Finian, and Timmy the Sad Rich Teenage Boy. He was Maurice the maître d’ at the Café Boeuf and he was Larry who lived in the basement under the Fitzgerald stage.

He was an ex-Marine (who could do a fine drill instructor), a good golfer, a sturdy, reliable, can-do colleague, a gifted performer with the unassuming demeanor of a stagehand. Whenever Tom came onstage for a sketch, I could see the audience’s heads turn in his direction. They could hear me but they wanted to see Tom, same as you’d watch any magician. Boys watched him closely to see how he did the shotgun volleys, the singing walrus, the siren, the helicopter, the water drips. His effects were graceful, precise, understated, like the man himself. All of us at the show are shocked by his passing and send our sincere condolences to his family and also to the listeners who enjoyed his work so much.”

Goodby dear friend, you will be in our hearts always.

APHC Street Dance

Saturday Night, September 17th, Garrison Keillor launched his alleged second to last “A Prairie Home Companion” season. As is his tradition, he kicked off the season with a Street Dance, music by Quebecois band Le Vent Du Nord, Austin Texas band The Derailers, and The Guys All-Star Shoe Band. The Dance featured a Meatloaf dinner and a series of contests. Sue and Tim judged “The Minnesota Accent” contest won by a lad from Ireland, go figure then! Also, “The 30 Second Acting” contest won by a young girl with a reading from “Romeo and Juliet”, as Juliet. Sue judged a vibrant Dance contest and, believe us, Minnesotans can really move. So we’re off and running, stay tuned for our backstage look at an exciting season of “A Prairie Home Companion”

Then it was off to Flagstaff, AZ. Tucson native Sue got to spend some quality time with her Dad and his wife and Tim got to see the magnificent Grand Canyon for the very first time. Spectacular weather and views.

Now we’re in Seattle for this weekend’s show at The Chateau St. Michelle Winery near Redmond, WA . Check out the details at:

http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/

Sue Scott and Tim Russell in "Voicematch"

Protocol in playwright Jeffrey Hatcher’s romantic comedy,”Voicematch” last Sunday, February 13th, at the Historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. They were joined by Prairie Home Companion’s Minnesota sound effects wizard Tom Keith who played the recording engineer offstage. Greta and Charlie work with each other long distance and develop a relationship that’s put to the test at a national voice over convention and award ceremony. A great crowd showed their appreciation at the very funny script crafted by Mr. Hatcher. This was a one time fully produced event flawlessly executed by The Fitzgerald staff of talented stagehands and sound and lighting designers, directed by Sarah Gioia. Our thanks to all who attended, perhaps we will do an extended theater run of the play somewhere down the road.

Jeffrey Hatcher, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Tom Keith

Prolific local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher’s latest work gets a one-night-only production this weekend and features a pair of familiar voices for listeners of A Prairie Home Companion.

In Voice Match, two voice-over artists–you know, the people who warn you that the new wonder drug may cause you to develop telekinetic powers or who let you know that your call is important to the phone company–who have “worked” together for years finally meet face to face for a new beer campaign. Will aural fireworks fly? Well, the piece is referred to as a romantic comedy.

The production stars Sue Scott and Tim Russell, who play oodles of characters each week on A Prairie Home Companion and who also make a living in recording booths. They will be joined for this weekend’s performance by Tom Keith, who provides sound effects for A Prairie Home Companion.

For Hatcher, the idea has kicked around in his head for many years. “I did some voice-over work myself years ago when I first moved to New York to become an actor,” he says. “I made a demo tape and I had some nice gigs. I eventually segued into writing, but the voice work stayed with me.”

Last January, he approached Scott and Russell about crafting a play for them based on their shared voice-over world. Both were thrilled by the chance. The trio talked and Hatcher went to work on a script, which premiered in a one-hour staged-reading version last March on the Prairie Home Companion Cruise.

“We shared stories of voice jobs big and small, as well enlightening him on the process and ‘lingo’ of the voice-over biz,” Scott says.

Hatcher also joined Scott on one of her gigs. “Much of it ended up in the script verbatim,” Hatcher says.

So what’s it like in the business?

“People think that it’s easy money,” Russell says. “The fact is, you are in competition with up to thousands of actors across the country for each spot. The agency has the pick of the litter, so if you book a job you’ve really earned it.”

And, of course, it’s pretty anonymous work as well. “I wonder if folks are aware that the woman you hear prompting you through your voicemail messages is a voice actor who stood in a booth in a sound studio for hours and recorded all of those dates and times,” Scott says.

Both actors relish the chance to do well-written, clever spots. Of course, there’s a downside too. Sometimes, the clients may cause a tense environment that leads to hundreds of takes.

“The worst part is poorly written spots that don’t make sense, or really confusing directions, like, ‘Do it like Orson Wells, only with a hillbilly accent,’” Russell says.

Voice Match will be performed 7 p.m. this Sunday at the Fitzgerald Theater (10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul). Tickets are $28-$32.