Tag Archive for 'Sue Scott'

Prairie Home Companion Wraps Another Season

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Tim Russell
on July 7, 2010
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It was a glorious 4th of July weekend as Garrison Keillor’s ” Prairie Home Companion” finished this year’s season at The Ravinia Festival in Highland Park Illinois.

The great singer/songwriter, John Prine joined us and performed some of his best songs including the powerful “Hello In There”. Another Chicagoan, Howard Levy added his harmonica virtuosity to the proceedings.

We had some fun scripts to work with as noted in the “Evanston Review” this week. Reviewer Dorothy Andries wrote:

“The show included not only music, but dramas, vividly enacted by The Royal Academy of Radio Actors, two men and a woman who are a trio of a million sounds and voices. Tim Russell did a spot-on imitation of Chicago radio legend Studs Terkel and was a pretty good Ira (“This American Life”) Glass. He even mastered President Obama’s measured cadences, while Fred Newman did zany sound effects. Sue Scott played everyone from a sweet encouraging Montessori mother to a hard-boiled seller of Chicago hot dogs — and no, she would never serve ketchup on a Chicago dog.”Guy Noir-Chicago

A great end to a great season. Fred Newman will  join Garrison and “The Guys All Star Show Band” and singer/songwriter Sara Watkins for a late summer tour of over 20 cities across the country. Check out the schedule on the Prairie Home website.

Sue and Tim will hopefully rejoin the cast and crew for the annual Minnesota State Fair Grandstand performance on the Labor Day Weekend Show.

Sue Scott plays Shelly on “The Cleveland Show”

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Sue Scott
on May 13, 2010
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Sue was very pleased last week to be booked to voice a character role on the prime time animated TV series, “The Cleveland Show“, which airs Sunday nights on FOX TV.  This show is a spin off of the popular animated series, “Family Guy” and was created by the same folks (Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, and Richard Appel).  In this upcoming episode, “Your Show of Shows”,  Sue plays the role of Shelly.  Shelly and her husband Harv have their own cable access show entitled, “Picking on Raccoons with Harv and Shelly”.  It’s a quick scene,  filled with lots of blood curdling screams and a not so happy ending… so in other words, tons of fun to do!

“A Behanding” is Something to behold

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Tim Russell
on May 1, 2010
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I’m in New York City for an unbelievably packed “A Prairie Home Companion” at the Town Hall.

Sue Scott Kristin Chenowith and Tim Russell

Kristin Chenowith joins us between performances of "Promises, Promises"

Kristin Chenowith, Debra Monk, Rob Fisher, Heather Masse, and a young star to be, Kate Beahen. Friday night  we wrapped rehearsal at 7pm, so I went to the TKTS Booth on 47th to get a half price seat for Christopher Walken’s play ” A Behanding in Spokane” by Micheal McDonagh. I met Micheal when I introduced a sneak screening of his Oscar nominated film, “In Brugge”, a lovely guy and amazing writer. Christopher Walken is off the charts with his “Walkeness” in this hysterically dark dramedy about a man in search of his missing hand for some 45 years. A couple of erstwhile drug dealers try to rip him off, and a hotel receptionist brilliantly played by Sam Rockwell adds to the grisly humor. If you are in New York and have a hankering for the quirky by all means see ” A Behanding in Spokane”.

After the show we found ourselves right in the middle of the car bomb threat in Times Square. A little more excitement than the City should really have. Thanks goodness the phrase “See something, Say something” meant something.

March Madness

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Tim Russell
on March 31, 2010
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It’s been a mad March for Tim and Sue. We wrap a month of no snow in March for the Twin Cities for the first time in history.

Tim Russell and the MS Ryndam

We visited the Western Caribbean with another Prairie Home Companion Cruise, a chance to commune with some amazing fans of Garrison Keillor and the show, we debuted a workshop of a play “Voicematch”, written for us by famed playwright Jeffrey Hatcher (“Complete Stage Beauty”) and we spent two weekends in Seattle and the days in between enjoying Washington State.

The Prairie Home Companion Cruise is always a special treat and this one had amazing talent. Robin and Linda Williams, Heather Masse, Jerlyn Steele, Connie Evinson, Beausoliel, Andra Suchy, the amazing Fred Newman, The Guys All Star Shoe Band, and Salsa Del Sol all kept the ship rockin’. and Garrison was seemingly everywhere.

We did our play three times to appreciative audiences. “Voicematch” is about the voice over business. Jeffrey Hatcher was intrigued that the business today knows no geographical bounds, two voice talents can and do record Ad Campaigns together in two different cities and never meet each other face to face.

“Voicematch” brings these two disparate actors , the pro and the newbie, together in more ways than one.

Opera singer Vern Sutton played the voice of several recording engineers. Jeffrey has plans to develop this into a fully produced stage play this summer or next fall, stay tuned!

Our Seattle experience allowed us to see the beautiful state of Washington, Tim and Judy visited Bellingham , Sue spent some time with her sister Nancy on a visit to lovely Whidby Island.

Thanks to computers we are always able to send mp3 auditions to our agents virtually anywhere. Next stop Nashville and the Historic Ryman Auditorium, then a series of shows from New York City. April beckons, like l said before, stay tuned.

Cinecast of A Prairie Home Companion | February 4, 2010

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katethomas
on January 26, 2010
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Cinecast of A Prairie Home Companion

Tim Russell and Sue Scott Blaze a Trail with New “Video” Audio Demo Reels

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Tim Russell
on November 25, 2009
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In the Voice-over world there has been a constant evolution of ways to display your talents for potential clients. Reel to Reel demos in the 60’s became cassettes in the 70’s and eventually morphed into digital demos, like mp3’s, most recently. Tim and Sue decided to highlight their animation voices and the many voices they’ve created for Radio, Television, and movies, as well as  Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion”, with a new “Video” Audio Demo, that they be passing along to Ad Agencies, and casting agents for their consideration. Please enjoy and share.

Harry Smith-CBS “Early Morning Show”-Radio Actor

Published
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Tim Russell
on October 25, 2009
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Harry Smith InterviewHarry Smith joins Sue Scott and Tim Russell on PHC

Harry Smith joins Sue Scott and Tim Russell on PHC

This past weekend Harry Smith of the CBS “Early Morning Show” joined the “Royal Academy Of Radio Acting” for a night. He performed flawlessly in “The Lives of the Cowboys”, even warbling a cowboy tune.  He also negotiated through a script replete with tongue twisters and the word Piscacadawadaquadimoggin.

Why would he subject himself to such treatment? It fulfills an opportunity to check off an item on a “Bucket List” of dream jobs he created for the “Early Morning Show”. His adventure will be told on that CBS show Thursday morning, October 29th.

Harry was a great guest and his film crew and producer Eric couldn’t have been nicer.

Sue Scott and Tim Russell on You Tube!

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Sue Scott
on January 27, 2009
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Yes, Tim and I can now be heard AND seen doing our thing each week on A Prairie Home Companion.  Various sketches from the radio show are now being video taped and uploaded to YouTube.  You can peek in on what we’re doing live on the air for listeners all across the globe! Check out the videos of our APHC scripts posted on You Tube. Just to get you started, here we are (with Garrison and Tom Keith) in “Ruth Harrison: Reference Librarian”… Enjoy!

The Los Angeles Show

Published
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Tim Russell
on June 12, 2008
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A Prairie Home companion made its annual trip to Los Angeles for a June 6th performance at the fabulous Greek Theater in Griffith Park.

On stage at the Greek.JPGWe recorded this on a Friday night for broadcast the next day. It’s one of the few times Garrison will do this, out of deference to the LA audience who would bake in the sun if we did the show live at 3pm LA time.

We were pleased to work with Martin Sheen and Bonnie Raitt. Martin has been with us twice before and is a huge Garrison fan, having listened from the earliest days of the show. He took part in the “Guy Noir” and “The Lives of the Cowboys” scripts as well as a tribute to Robert F. Kennedy. Garrison also poked fun at his “struggling actor days” with a presentation of several fictitious appearances on TV and the big screen.

Bonnie Raitt has been with us once before and, in addition to her fabulous musical performance, aided by Richard Thompson, Keb Mo, and The Guys All-Star Shoe band, she showed her acting skills in the “Guy Noir” script.

The amazing Jearlyn Steele had her usual show stopping performances.

After the show the backstage crowd included Martin’s family, Emilio Estevez and his significant other, Sonja, plus several more.

Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley showed up with Peter’s 103 Great Aunt Blanche. She was lively and loved the show.

Vince, Peter, His 103 year old Great Aunt, and Maritn.JPGVince Vaugn talks to writer Laura Buchholtz and Sue Scott.JPG Vince and Peter came back to say hello after our Minnesota State Fair Show last September. Writer Greg Fiedler is a contributor to A Prairie Home Companion in addition to writing for “The Soup” on the “E” Network. He often appears on the live comedy segments with host Joel McCrae on “The Soup”.

Vox AgentsThursday, June 5th, we drove to the offices of our LA agents Vox, Inc. on Wilshire Boulevard. We met with Tom Lawless, Jerome Titshaw, and Jason Merrell. Jason came to the show with a friend and enjoyed the backstage scene as well.

Tim had a call Friday night from Vox booking him for a series of spots Monday morning at LA Studios near Universal City. Turns out it was an ISDN patch with a Twin Cities Agency. Technology has made this a small world, we can do a job on a moment’s notice wherever we are.

Some of the Tourist highlights for Tim and his wife Judy include the new Glendale shopping attraction, Americana at Brand, from the folks who did the popular Grove Shopping Mall near The Farmers Market. We enjoyed a great meal at the new Katsuya Restaurant at Americana.

The Griffith Park Observatory has just completed a 93 million dollar renovation and is a must see attraction. The Planetarium Show is spectacular.

Cactus at Huntington Gardens.jpgThe Huntington Library and Gardens has also undergone a total renovation, 20 million dollars worth, and proved to be a lovely place to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Cactus Gardens were surreal for a couple Minnesotans.

If you go to Old Pasadena, we would recommend the Santorini Café for outdoor dining with a Mediterranean flair.

Los Angeles in early June with the Jacaranda Trees in full bloom, is a great place to be and we always look forward to our visit.

Washington Post on our Presidential Candidate Voices

Published
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Tim Russell
on May 17, 2008
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The Washington Post has been listening to “A Prairie Home Companion” the last couple of weeks and thought we were ahead of the curve with our impersonations of the current presidential candidates:

McCain Might Not Like the Sound of This

By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Friday, May 16, 2008; C03

The man’s been the presumptive GOP nominee for two months already, so it’s about time someone mastered a John McCain impression.

Tim Russell performing Bush 5-2008That person is voice actor Tim Russell, a 16-year veteran of Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” public-radio show, who in a skit last week showed off a delightfully husky Bill Clinton and a somberly resonant Barack Obama– but whose McCain voice was so eerily evocative you’d think the Arizona senator himself stepped in for a cameo. (With all due respect to Darrell Hammond, who recently debuted a solid McCain on “SNL.”)

“Let me tell you something, my friend,” Russell-as-McCain warned the show’s Hillary Clinton ( Sue Scott). “When you and the skinny guy get done cutting each other up, I’m waiting for the winner in the parking lot.”

How does he get that voice so right? “It’s a little bit of Ronald Reagan,” Russell told us on the phone from Minnesota, “a little bit of Carol Channing, and Liberace.”

Carol Channing?! “It’s the ’s’ [sounds] — there’s a little sibilance involved. It’s the nasality that comes from Liberace. From Reagan, it’s just that breathy tone.”

Plus, there’s McCain’s trademark verbal tic. “I saw him doing a town hall meeting and I was struck by the number of times he said, ‘my friend.’ I thought, ‘Holy cow, there’s a hook.’ We always have our ears open to that kind of thing.”

McCain is easy, he said, compared with Obama, whose tics are subtler, as Russell demonstrated for us: “He only talks [pause] in two or three words [pause] at a time.” And he contracts “you know” to “yo.”

Russell’s big concern: That Minnesota’s own Gov. Tim Pawlenty may end up as McCain’s VP pick. “He’s got a good talk-show-host voice, very straight, nothing to pick up on,” he said. “Anyone who’s normal is always trouble.”