Tickets sell out for radio show

By Sarah Szczepanski
Assistant Features Editor

Bob Dylan, Randy Travis, Smashing Pumpkins and Third Eye Blind didn't sell out when they played on campus, but National Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" sold out its performance at Purdue one day after the tickets went on sale.

"A Prairie Home Companion," hosted by Garrison Keilor, is an AM/FM public radio show that reaches an audience of 2.8 million.

After the Purdue box office phone number was called 12,000 times last Monday, the company that supplied the 800 number called to see what the big deal was. They were told tickets to "A Prairie Home Companion," scheduled to be broadcasted April 7 from the Elliott Hall of Music, went on sale, said Jennifer Molden, the assistant director to Elliott Hall.

"Its very unusual," she said. "It's the fist time since we had 'CATS' that we've had something like this. We don’t ever usually have that many people calling at once."

Molden said many of the tickets were from people in surrounding areas such as Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. The Friends of Convocations and WBAA radio members accounted for around 2,600 of the approximately 6,000 tickets that were sold.

"We knew that with a little concerted effort towards group sales we could sell out," said Laura Clavio, the assistant director of Purdue Convocations. "You don’t get many times when the market and your hunches are the same."

Larry Sommers, the assistant director of marketing for Purdue Convocations said the sold out performance is probably because of the type of show it is.

"It's a pretty big deal; the 'Prairie Home Companion' doesn't tour very much," he said. "The fact it is coming here is a big deal."

Aside from attracting other radio productions, the broadcast's high ticket sales could bring in "A Prairie Home Companion" again, Clavio said.

"If they look to come back to the Midwest, they know we can do it here," said Clavio. "This bodes well for other radio producers. I think we're going to pursue other programs of this type. I don’t know timetables, but I know we are going to be doing that."

• Although there is no organized waiting list for "A Prairie Home Companion," people still interested in tickets may call the Purdue box office at (765)494-3933 or (800)914-SHOW to see if any tickets have been returned.

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