A Prairie Home Companion returns to The Fitzgerald Theater for a run of six winter shows including show on Saturday, February 4th at 4:45 p.m. Join Garrison Keillor, and the whole Prairie Home gang for two hours of live radio fun. Special musical guest for this show will be announced soon. A limited number of Rush Seats will be available at 4:00 p.m. on the day of the show. Numbers for the rush line will be handed out beginning at 2pm at the Fitzgerald Theater box office.

Saturday broadcast tickets are available for $48.00, $38.00, and $32.00. There is a limit of 4 tickets per order for all the Saturday broadcast performances. All ticket prices include a $2.50 facility fee. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount.

A Prairie Home Companion returns to The Fitzgerald Theater for a run of six winter shows including show on Saturday, February 11th at 4:45 p.m. Join Garrison Keillor, and the whole Prairie Home gang for two hours of live radio fun. Special musical guest for this show will be announced soon. A limited number of Rush Seats will be available at 4:00 p.m. on the day of the show. Numbers for the rush line will be handed out beginning at 2pm at the Fitzgerald Theater box office.

Saturday broadcast tickets are available for $48.00, $38.00, and $32.00. There is a limit of 4 tickets per order for all the Saturday broadcast performances. All ticket prices include a $2.50 facility fee. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount.

A Prairie Home Companion returns to The Fitzgerald Theater for a run of six winter shows including show on Saturday, February 18th at 4:45 p.m. Join Garrison Keillor, and the whole Prairie Home gang for two hours of live radio fun. Special musical guest for this show will be announced soon. A limited number of Rush Seats will be available at 4:00 p.m. on the day of the show. Numbers for the rush line will be handed out beginning at 2pm at the Fitzgerald Theater box office.

Saturday broadcast tickets are available for $48.00, $38.00, and $32.00. There is a limit of 4 tickets per order for all the Saturday broadcast performances. All ticket prices include a $2.50 facility fee. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount.

Sue McLean & Associates present The Fresh Beat Band at the Fitzgerald Theater on Thursday, March 1st at 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Fresh Beat Band, Nickelodeon’s popular preschool music group and stars of the hit TV series of the same name, will hit the road in February 2012 for the first time ever on a 15-week nationwide concert tour. Kiki (Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer), Shout (Thomas Hobson), Marina (Tara Perry), and Twist (Jon Beavers) will perform The Fresh Beat Band hits from seasons one, two and three of the live-action music series that teaches preschoolers about music appreciation and how to express their feelings through movement, song and instrumental music. Fresh Beat Band Party packages, which include a meet and greet with The Fresh Beat Band will be available. Don’t miss The Fresh Beat Band at the Fitzgerald.

Tickets are available for $39.00 and $35.00. An additional $2.50 facility fee will be added will be added to the price of each ticket. A limited number of VIP Tickets Packages are also available for this show.

The Mrs. Minnesota - Wisconsin - Iowa Pageant returns to The Fitzgerald Theater on Saturday, June 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Join Mrs. Minnesota-America 2011, Yasmine Ryback, and this year's contestants for an exciting evening, culminating in the crowning of Mrs. Minnesota-America 2012.

All Tickets are $40.00. There will be an additional $2.50 facility fee added to the price of ticket.

Sue McLean & Associates present An Evening with Gaelic Stormat the Fitzgerald Theater on Friday, March 9th at 8:00 p.m. Gaelic Storm is back in full-force with their newest album, Cabbage. The record held the #1 position on the Billboard World Music Album Chart for 3 consecutive weeks in 2010. The album is the follow up to their 2008 independent release, What’s The Rumpus? which debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Chart. As many hundreds of thousands of record buyers and live music lovers know, Gaelic Storm is “a whirlwind ruckus” (Village Voice) that tours over two hundred days per year and play high-energy, foot-stomping, feel-good music. Cabbage is further testament to the bands contagious energy, combining influences from rock, bluegrass, Jamaican, African and Middle Eastern music that may surprise those expecting purely traditional Celtic music. The quintet’s new release once again showcases Gaelic Storm’s signature acoustic sound with a brand new batch of crafted story-songs and driving instrumentals.

Tickets are available for $35.00 and $32.00. An additional $2.50 facility fee will be added will be added to the price of each ticket.

The Minnesota State Arts Board presents Poetry Out Loud at the Fitzgerald Theater on Monday, March 19th at 10:00 a.m. Poetry Out Loud is a dynamic, fun, interactive way to teach poetry and meet English / language arts requirements for high school students. Riding the wave of a national resurgence in spoken word as a competitive event that is as old as the Olympic Games, Poetry Out Loud helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. By studying and memorizing some of the most influential and timeless poems of the English language—both classic and contemporary—students are immersed in the power of expression and provocative ideas. Reciting the poems in front of peers and judges gives them valuable experience for life as much their future success will depend on how well they present themselves in public.

Free, standards-based curriculum materials are available for all participating schools. Participating schools also have the opportunity to work with professional poets who give workshops on poetry recitation for students. Poetry Out Loud is modeled on the national spelling bee. Schools host their own contests. School winners compete in regional contests. Regional winners compete in the state contest. State winners will advance to the national finals held in Washington, DC.

This event is free and open to the public.

Minnesota Public Radio presents Pat Donohue: The Blues Profiles at the Fitzgerald Theater on Saturday, March 24th at 8:00 p.m. Join Grammy award winning guitarist Pat Donohue for an evening of delta songs and barrel house stomps that pay tribute to such legends as Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Bessie Smith and Mississippi John Hurt. Pat’s Featured guests include national Bluesman Guy Davis and the sassy big voice of Jearlyn Steele. The show is backed by a blues band of great musicians that wail on wild harmonicas and hard driving pianos. The Blues Profiles is a program that integrates rare film footage with the gritty stories of these legendary masters. The evenings music will stretch from the earlier forms of the blues to it’s modern influences from such figures as Eric Clapton and Janis Joplin. Pat Donohue’s work with Minnesota Public Radio has created a Fitzgerald Theater tradition that’s cut loose every year with an audience declaring Pat a Minnesota treasure.

All tickets are $32.00. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount.

Classical Minnesota Public Radio presents the 2012 Minnesota Varsity Showcase at the Fitzgerald Theater on Sunday, April 29th at 4:00 p.m. Ambitious teens from all over Minnesota have submitted their auditions to Minnesota Varsity, the statewide classical music showcase for high school students presented by Classical Minnesota Public Radio. The 2012 Minnesota Varsity Showcase will include performances by finalists and special guests, Twin Cities-based singers and sisters, Christina Baldwin and Jennifer Baldwin Peden. More information on Minnesota Varsity can be found online at classicalmpr.org/varsity.

This event is free and open to the public. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Fitzgerald Theater Box Office. Minnesota Varsity is supported in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Minnesota Public Radio presents Jeremy Messersmith – Muse to Music at the Fitzgerald Theater on Saturday, May 19th at 8:00 p.m. Muse to Music will explore the hidden creative origins and stories surrounding some of music's most notable songs, by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Sigor Ros, Radiohead and others, as well as original material by host Jeremy Messersmith. Muse to Music will be an evening of orchestrated live music and an insightful glimpse into an eclectic mix of hit songs, cult classics and lost obscurities. Vocalist Chastity Brown will be among the special guests to perform and talk about their muse.

All tickets are $25.00. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount. This event is supported in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund

Minnesota Public Radio presents Works for Words with Chris Koza at the Fitzgerald Theater on Friday, June 8th at 8:00 p.m. Chris Koza will explore the meanings of the lyrics and importance of words in pop, rock and folk songs. From gibberish words to poetic love lines with special guests to help find enhance the stories told in in song. Koza is a Minneapolis based singer-songwriter by way of Portland, Oregon, and has self-released four albums under his own name since 2004. His current project, the americana-folk-rock band Rogue Valley is nearing the end of their four-albums "Seasons" project, which began April 2010 with the Spring release Crater Lake, and followed up with Summer's The Bookseller's House, and Autumn's Geese in the Flyway. In an era of fast and voracious media consumption, Koza invites listeners to slow down and chew their food by placing an emphasis on vivid lyrical content and inspired musical arrangements.

All tickets are $25.00. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount. This event is supported in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund

Minnesota Public Radio presents T Mychael Rambo - Tying the Knot: Songs for Our Fathers at the Fitzgerald Theater on Saturday, June 16th at 8:00 p.m. Tying the Knot is a celebration of "fatherhood" Interweaving song, images, storytelling and dance. This spirited evening will honor the unbreakable bonds that connect the richness of African American culture to the vital and universal role of fathers and fatherhood in our communities.

The elements of this joyous, heart-rendering and thought-provoking production will reveal, deconstruct, affirm and give voice to the significant role father's (men) play in the development and betterment of not only our children, but the world they are inheriting.

Hosted by Emmy Award winning actor, vocalist, arts educator and affiliate professor at the University of Minnesota in the College of Theatre Arts and Dance, T.Mychael Rambo, this program will bring to the Fitzgerald stage the culmination of a number of collaborations with area arts, literature and community based organizations creating content that will provide added depth, texture and appeal to the evening's presentation. Performers will include poet(s)/playwrights like Marion McClinton and Rohan Preston and vocalists Bruce Henry, Julius Collins, Aimee Bryant, Thomasina Petrus, and Tonia Hughes-Kendrick.

All tickets are $32.00. Minnesota Public Radio members receive a $2.00 discount. This event is supported in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund