89.1 WEMU and the Michigan Theater present NPR’s “Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me” Taping May 17

“Offbeat” defines the National Public Radio current-events quiz program, Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me. See for yourself when 89.1, WEMU presents a live taping of the weekly game show on Thursday, May 17 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. The show is set for a nationwide broadcast the following Saturday (11:00 a.m. on WEMU).

Bob Lutz, vice chairman of General Motors, will be live as the “Not My Job” guest.

News of the week is the nominal focus of Wait, Wait but it’s just an excuse for riffs on everything from politics to pop culture. The program’s host is Peter Sagal, aided and abetted by judge-scorekeeper Carl Kasell, the longtime NPR morning news anchor. (Kasell’s voice on winners’ home answering machines is the prize that keeps hopeful listeners calling to pit their wits against the panel.)

Fans know that truth and fiction are tough to sort out, thanks to the skill of an ever-changing panel that makes up the cast. Panelists for the May 17 taping will include Adam Felber, Kyrie O’Connor and Charlie Pierce.

Sagal lives in Chicago where the program is usually recorded live at the Bank One Auditorium. He became the host of Wait, Wait in 1998. Currently, he’s at work on a book about misbehavior titled The Big Book of Vices. Carl Kasell has been a newscaster for NPR’s daily newsmagazine Morning Edition since 1979. He sometimes moonlights as a magician.

Doors will open for the taping at 6:30 pm; the show starts at 7:30 pm.

Reserved seats are priced at $20 and $35; Tickets go on sale Saturday, March 31 at 10:00 am at ticketmaster.com and at all Ticketmaster outlets including Macy’s and the Michigan Union Ticket Office. To charge by phone, call 734-763-TKTS or 248-645-6666.

Special donor tickets also are available which include a post-concert reception with the show’s cast. For further information contact WEMU at 734-487-2229.

Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me is a co-production of NPR and Chicago Public Radio.