Goofy concept, but I'll certainly go see it

Altman Directing 'Prairie Home Companion'

Robert Altman's next movie has a location.

The director, famed for his ensemble casts, will bring Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly and Lily Tomlin to a St. Paul, Minn. theater for his adaptation of Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion."

"As a longtime Keillor fan, I'm thrilled to be doing this project with him," director Robert Altman recently told the Star Tribune.

Garrison Keillor wrote the movie's script and will be playing a character named, well, Keillor.

The comedy is about an long-running radio show that's suddenly canceled after 30 years on the air. As the cast and crew prepare for the last live broadcast, secret love affairs, jealousies and feuds come to a boil, taxing the patience of a stage manager struggling to hold the show together.

Streep and Tomlin play Bonnie and Rhonda Johnson, the two remaining performers of a five-sister country music act, with Lohan as Streep's daughter.

Altman has directed more than 30 films and received five Academy Award nominations for best director. His films include "M A S H," "Nashville," "The Player," "Short Cuts" and "Gosford Park."