St. Paul Pioneer Press BY CHRIS HEWITT
 
 
 Plans take shape for 'Prairie Home Companion,' filming this winter
 
 
 It will not be a quiet week in Lake Wobegon when Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin,
 Tom Waits and others hit town to make a film version of "A Prairie Home
 Companion."
 
 "We are getting the financial pieces in place. Sometimes the partners come,
 and sometimes the partners go, and you hope it all comes together," said
 Tony Judge, who has worked on the radio show in a variety of capacities and
 is coordinating production of the film. "There's every reason to be
 confident about its getting made."
 
 The plan is for shooting to take place at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater.
 "We are holding January and February for the film," said Brian Sanderson,
 general manager of the Fitzgerald. "We're crossing our fingers and hoping it
 goes forward."
 
 Plans were still being discussed this week, Sanderson said, but he adds it's
 getting late to find somebody else to use the theater if the movie doesn't
 happen: "The closer you get to the date, the less chance there is to find
 another rental."
 
 The movie would take place as the radio show is being performed, so it would
 include both onstage performances and behind-thescenes action. Judge said
 negotiations are ongoing with Waits and Lyle Lovett (who are expected to
 play cowboys Dusty and Lefty), Streep, Tomlin and other potential cast
 members (George Clooney has been mentioned as a possibility for tough-guy
 detective Guy Noir), but none of those actors can be signed until there's a
 definite start date. Judge said the script, written by "Prairie" creator
 Garrison Keillor, has "romance, intrigue, threats. It's a funny film, and I
 think people who know 'Prairie Home Companion,' and even those who do not,
 will like it."
 
 The project has been in the talking stages for 18 months or so, Judge said.
 That's when he introduced Keillor and Robert Altman (whose movies, including
 "Nashville" and "Gosford Park," have usually centered around a specific
 community or culture) in Chicago, where Altman was shooting "The Company."
 "Altman is a great fan of radio. It was an important force for him as a
 kid," Judge said, noting that Altman was not a regular "Prairie" listener.
 "I think he has become one. He wasn't a great fan of the show, but, over the
 next few months after they met, he came and saw performances at Town Hall in
 New York and was out here to see the show, too."
 
 Judge said putting the movie package together has been "fraught with all the
 difficulties of independent film organization and financing. But it's very
 exciting, because it's such a good, strong, natural idea. And, beyond the
 good story and the prominence and popularity of Garrison Keillor and Robert
 Altman, we have an audience of nearly 4 million people every week across the
 country who we think we be eager to see a movie called 'A Prairie Home
 Companion.' "
 
 Some of those listeners may even get a chance to be in the film. Judge said
 it's too early to know exact details, but, since the film takes place during
 a performance of the show, audiences will probably be required. Who knows?
 If they're lucky, they may even get to sample some Powdermilk Biscuits and
 Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie from the film's commissary.