If you’ve ever heard the long-running radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” and wanted to match a face to host Garrison Keillor’s distinctive baritone voice, you’ll have two chances when his “America the Beautiful” summer tour rolls into Oregon. “A Prairie Home Companion” will be performed in Eugene on Aug. 27 and Portland on Aug. 28.

Keillor’s on-air persona is that of a midwestern everyman and his show harks back to the radio variety shows of yesteryear. It is a two-hour-long mix of storytelling, music (typically folk and Americana), and tongue-in-cheek radio drama usually performed on Saturday evenings in front of an audience at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The show has become a public radio juggernaut, drawing 4 million listeners on more than 600 stations each week.

The “America the Beautiful” bus tour celebrates the show’s 41st anniversary, visiting 30 cities in 36 days during July and August. Oregon is the tour’s penultimate destination, with the final tour stop at the Alaska State Fair on Aug. 30. Performing alongside Keillor, 73, during his two Oregon broadcasts will be singer and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz, pianist and bandleader Richard Dworsky, the Radio Rhubarb Band, sound-effects wizard Fred Newman and various other performers and guests.

The audience will see and hear many of the show’s staples, including Keillor’s centerpiece “News from Lake Wobegon” monologue, satirical faux-commercials (just try getting the “Powdermilk Biscuits” jingle out of your head once you hear it), and the mock-drama “Guy Noir, Private Eye”. They may even get to participate in an audience chorale.

Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” will be performed first at the Cuthbert Theater in Eugene at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 27. Tickets cost $60 for reserved seating or $40 for general admission lawn seating (plus fees in advance). For more information go to www.thecuthbert.com.

The second performance will be at the Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre in Portland at 7 p.m. on Aug. 28. Tickets for this show cost $42.50-$82.50 (plus fees in advance), which includes zoo admission the same day. For more information go to www.oregonzoo.org.

— Reporter: 541-383-0350, khimstreet@bendbulletin.com