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About Steve :: Actor ::
Presenter -- Paul Simon
25th Kennedy Center Honors
Every year, the Kennedy Center honors 5 performing artists.
In 2002, one was Steve's long time friend, Paul Simon. Steve did the
presentation to him. These articles concern the whole ceremony, with
the Steve parts highlighted. I include it all to give you the flavor
of the event. |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28730-2002Dec9.html
washingtonpost.com
At the Gala: Smiles, Tears and a Dazzling Finale
A Constellation Of Distinguished Talent Shines at The 25th Honors
By Ken Ringle
Monday, December 9, 2002; Page C01 President and Mrs. Bush and a black-tie
crowd of 2,000 saluted the artistic achievements of actors Elizabeth Taylor
and James Earl Jones, dancer Chita Rivera, singer-songwriter Paul Simon and
conductor James Levine last night with the nation's most glittering cultural
attaboy: the 25th annual celebration of the Kennedy Center Honors.
The tributes ranged from comedian Steve Martin's rubber-faced accolades
for Simon to a show-stopping, 83-dancer reprise of the high-kicking
"West Side Story" number that made Rivera famous, to the Gay Men's Chorus of
Washington serenading Taylor with a lusty rendition of "There Is Nothing
Like a Dame."
While the honorees looked down, resplendent and occasionally teary-eyed,
from the presidential box in the Kennedy Center Opera House, master of
ceremonies Walter Cronkite praised them not only as great performers but as
cultural pioneers in their individual fields.
They have, he said, made manifest poet Ralph Waldo Emerson's exhortation to
"not go where the path may lead -- go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail."
The biggest trail last night may have been left by Taylor, a onetime
congressional wife whose brief career as the spouse of Sen. John Warner 20
years ago was apparently not her happiest interlude. She has rarely made a
secret since of her antipathy to Washington and all she feels it represents.
Last night she reigned supreme, her hair blond for the occasion, gowned in a
filmy black dress with a neckline of white fabric flowers. She applauded
gamely at what Cronkite described as "a lighthearted bouquet" to her from
former Kennedy Center honoree Stephen Sondheim: a performance of "(I'm Not)
Getting Married Today" from Sondheim's musical "Company." It is, Cronkite
noted, a song "not usually associated" with Taylor, who has been married
eight times.
In delivering a tribute to her screen artistry and radiance, actor John
Travolta looked to the box where she was sitting and confessed: "Elizabeth,
I had a dream about you in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' -- you remember that
white dress you were wearing? You weren't wearing it."
"I'm not wearing anything under this dress," Taylor called down from the
balcony to a smattering of laughter and applause.
But Travolta and other speakers noted Taylor's impassioned work against the
AIDS virus, which has claimed so many in show business. In the end, Travolta
said, "it is not her violet eyes that are her best feature, it's her heart."
Part of the intrigue of the Kennedy Center Honors is discovering
little-known ties between the veteran honorees and younger performers. Last
night, for example, Kelsey Grammer, star of the TV sitcom "Frasier," told
the audience he had played Cassio to Jones's famous Othello onstage in 1982.
"You spoke with such passion," he told the regal-voiced actor, "I felt I was
watching one of God's masterpieces." And he quoted Jones's own declaration
that "I believe in the value of artistic endeavor in a society. Maybe art
cannot always change minds, but art can change hearts."
With his trailblazing excellence at a time when few other African Americans
could be seen onstage, Cronkite suggested, Jones has helped the whole nation
to discover "that hope is neither black or white."
Other speakers praised Jones for conquering stuttering as a boy to become
the most recognizable voice in show business, lending its power to
everything from Darth Vader and "The Lion King" to promos for CNN and the
phone company. Jones, the speakers said, was nothing less than "an icon of
the theater" and "a force of nature." Two-time Tony nominee Charles S.
Dutton wound up the accolades with these lines from "Othello," which Jones
has delivered to such acclaim: "Soft you -- a word or two before you go. I
have done the state some service and they know't."
Honoring Levine was former New York mayor and opera mega-fan Rudolph
Giuliani, who praised the conductor for "raising the reputation of American
culture."
"My two greatest passions are baseball and opera," Giuliani said. "I don't
know how Jimmy Levine swings a bat, but he swings a baton like a natural."
He said he had lived through many great musical moments with Levine, but
none greater than the Sept. 22, 2001, benefit for the victims of last year's
terrorist attacks.
Giuliani said the city had erected a giant television screen outside the
sold-out concert but no one knew if anyone in the city would show up to
watch it. Not only did people show up, Giuliani said, but "tens of thousands
showed up, and that was a foreshadowing of the resilience of New York and
all America" in the wake of the attacks.
Washington Opera Artistic Director Placido Domingo lauded Levine for his
"impeccable and clean technique" and said his greatest work is yet to come,
because "conductors live long and mature late -- even though at the tender
age of 27 he conducted the best 'Tosca' in which I ever sang."
Musical tributes to Levine included soprano Frederica von Stade delivering a
customized version of the aria "Tu n'es pas beau" from Offenbach's "La
Perichole," engineered to make Levine the love object.
Baritone Bryn Terfel sang the "Toreador Song" from Bizet's "Carmen,"
wandering at one point into the audience to sing into the ear of actress
Glenn Close.
Simon was praised as "a rockin' kid from Queens who picked up his guitar and
found a way to bridge the sounds of silence." His fellow vocalists from the
classic-rock days honoring him last night included James Taylor and John
Mellencamp, augmented by Alison Krauss, Alicia Keys and the Dixie
Hummingbirds, performing such anthems of the era as "Mrs. Robinson," "Loves
Me Like a Rock" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
The most winning tribute to him -- and of the evening -- was Steve
Martin's praise of his longtime friend.
"It would be easy to stand here and talk about Paul Simon's intelligence and
skill," Martin said, "but this is neither the time nor the place." He noted
that Simon had had a long relationship with Art Garfunkel, "which
unfortunately ended in an acrimonious split. We know about his relationship
with Sony Records, which also ended in an acrimonious split." And then he
began shuffling through his cue cards and tossing them aside, muttering,
"Acrimonious split, acrimonious split, acrimonious split."
"I, however, have had a long relationship with Paul, but that's ending
tonight."
He claimed that Simon had once called him to claim he had written a song
called "47 Ways to Leave Your Lover," "and I said, 'Why not 50?' "
"I can only think of 47," Simon allegedly replied.
Simon once apologized for interrupting Martin at home, the comedian claimed,
one evening while he was cooking a chicken.
How are you preparing it, Simon allegedly asked.
"With parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme." Bada-bing.
"I don't use the word 'genius' very often," Martin said, and stopped. "I
just thought I'd mention that."
But seriously. He said Simon had given a great gift to America and all
future generations, "but not my future generations because I've had a
vasectomy."
The most elaborate tribute was for Rivera, a Washington-born dancer of
Puerto Rican ancestry who played the first -- and fiercest -- Anita in "West
Side Story" and thus helped redefine the Broadway musical in the late 1950s.
Last night's segment in her behalf included Donna Murphy singing Rivera's
title number from "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and Valarie Pettiford strutting
through a steamy version of "All That Jazz" from "Chicago."
But the capstone, ending with the descent of a dazzling theater marquee
spelling out CHITA, was the famous "America" number from "West Side Story."
Twenty-three of the 83 dancers onstage were recruited in New York. Many of
those had to fly down after Saturday night shows in the Big Apple, and eight
of them (plus "Man of La Mancha" star Brian Stokes Mitchell) raced down
yesterday afternoon after dancing Sunday matinees in Manhattan.
"The one thing you can say about this show is we never peak too soon,"
sighed a weary George Stevens Jr., who has produced the Honors with Don
Mischer each year for the past quarter-century. The two are always juggling
crises and the show's trademark surprises. One year Chita Rivera's plane was
still circling National Airport when the show began -- she barely made it
onstage to deliver her tribute to producer Hal Prince. Another year they
chartered a plane to fly in the entire 280-member U.S. Army Chorus to sing
"God Bless America" in the finale.
The two-hour, $3.2 million show, which will be broadcast Dec. 27 on CBS, has
been a television staple since the beginning, Mischer says, and after five
Emmys and a Peabody Award gets higher ratings now than it did in the
beginning.
There have been some challenges over the years, Stevens conceded, including
the increasing cultural distance between many in the TV and Opera House
audiences and the veteran performers being honored. He and Mischer have
handled that with the capsule film biographies that kick off each honoree's
segment of the program.
"So if Barney of First Financial Bank doesn't know who James Levine is when
he buys his ticket to the gala, by the time Levine's film segment is over
he's up to speed and able to appreciate the rest of the tributes."
And after the tributes was the food, no explanatory video needed. After a
pull-out-the-stops finale with everyone from Domingo and James Taylor to
John Travolta, Giuliani and the Army Herald Trumpets rendering "America the
Beautiful," $3,000 orchestra ticket-holders adjourned to the Kennedy Center
lobby to feast on frisee salad with pork pâté, beef filet with winter
vegetables, and berries in a chocolate basket, and dance into the morning
hours.
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USA TODAY
December 9, 2002, Monday, FINAL EDITION
LIFE; Pg. 2D
Kennedy Center honors 5
Ann Oldenburg
WASHINGTON -- Five talents were toasted and celebrated, sung to and praised,
wined and dined. Non-stop. All weekend long.
There were:
* Darth Vader and CNN jokes for actor James Earl Jones, 71.
* West Side Story songs and dances for Broadway star Chita Rivera, 69.
* A capella congratulations for conductor James Levine, 59.
* Musical tributes to rocker Paul Simon, 61.
* Remembrances of great films, passion and generosity for legendary
Elizabeth Taylor, 70.
And there was concern.
Using a wheelchair most of the time, Taylor struggled through the weekend of
celebration. She was one of the five famous folks to receive this year's
Kennedy Center Honors for their distinguished careers in the arts.
"I'm a little tired. I have quite a few physical problems. My heart may stop
at any minute," Taylor said as she was wheeled down the red carpet before
Sunday's ceremony. Her difficulty walking stemmed from dental surgery she
had three weeks ago, said those in her entourage, and a lifetime of chronic
back problems.
She cackled and smiled through the 25th annual show Sunday night, sitting in
the Opera House box not far from President Bush and wife Laura.
Taylor also blew kisses to the crowd that stood to applaud her and to those
who paid tribute to her on stage.
Leading the Taylor segment in the show (taped to air on CBS on Dec. 27) was
John Travolta: "I am here tonight because when it comes to Elizabeth Taylor,
I am a big fan."
But longtime Taylor friend Michael Jackson was not there. When asked if he
had been invited, veteran producer George Stevens Jr. said, "We didn't
extend ourselves disproportionately. He was busy in a hotel room, on a
balcony with a baby," he added with a smile.
Stevens also said that "Rock Hudson, Richard Burton and Jimmy Dean would be
at the top of the list" for a Taylor tribute, but they too, were not
available.
Only too happy to show up were Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, who
saluted her by singing That's What Friends Are For, and the Gay Men's Chorus
of Washington, D.C., which sang There's Nothing Like a Dame, both a nod to
Taylor's work for AIDS.
Other highlights of the show included Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton and
Courtney Vance in a reading to Jones; Placido Domingo and former New York
Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a group singing to Levine; and James Taylor and
Alison Krauss performing Simon's The Boxer.
Steve Martin cracked up the audience by remembering Simon excitedly
calling him one night about a new song. "He said, '47 ways to leave your
lover.' And I said, 'Paul, what about 50, 50 ways to leave your lover?' And
then there was this long silence. And finally he said, 'go on . . . ' (And I
said) 'Make a new plan, Stan? Drop off the key, Lee. Don't need to be coy,
Roy."'
Said Martin, "And now look at him."
On Saturday night at the traditional State Department dinner for the
honorees, the jokes went to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said of
honoree Jones: "I can't escape the brother. I may be in Katmandu, Asia or
Africa, trying to get some rest. And I flick that clicker and hear (Jones
say), 'This is CNN.' "
Powell wiggled his hips singing "I like to be in America!" from West Side
Story for Rivera, the first Latina to receive a Kennedy Center Honor and who
wowed audiences in 1957 when she first starred in the hit play on Broadway.
Of Taylor, Powell said she was a woman of "passion with a capital p," but
also "a woman of great compassion as well."
While Taylor seemed to relish being in the spotlight, the night was
physically a strain.
"She wants to walk," said her publicist, Warren Cowan. "But she just can't
do a lot of it."
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The Washington Post
December 09, 2002, Monday, Final Edition
STYLE; Pg. C01
Silver Stars; A Constellation Of Distinguished Talents Shines at The 25th
Honors
Jacqueline Trescott and Roxanne Roberts, Washington Post Staff Writers
Legends are entitled to be late. And though Elizabeth Taylor arrived well
into the appetizer course at a State Department dinner Saturday night
saluting the Kennedy Center honorees, no one seemed to mind. But everyone
did notice.
The receiving line, headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell, had long
disbanded. Powell had given diminutive songwriter Paul Simon a bearhug,
almost swallowing up the musician. He had also welcomed the other honorees:
actor James Earl Jones, dancer and singer Chita Rivera and Metropolitan
Opera conductor James Levine.
Then Powell circulated among his 200-plus guests and mentioned to one group
that he had never met Taylor. Some were beginning to wonder if it would
happen that night. But not Michael Kaiser, the always-prompt president of
the performing arts center, who was standing on the sidelines and announced
confidently, "She'll be here." And there she was, just before 9 p.m., almost
90 minutes after the first honoree arrived (Rivera). Taylor was swathed in
gold, from her abstract tresses to her chandelier earrings to a gown of gold
lace. At one point she told actress Dina Merrill that she has been slowed
recently by dental surgery, the flu and back problems. She used a wheelchair
during part of the evening.
But late or not, Taylor got to the lavish, three-wine dinner in plenty of
time to witness Powell's slightly raucous remarks. Clearly enjoying himself
in what could have been billed "Late Night With Secretary Powell," he said a
James Earl Jones biographical movie hasn't been made because he -- the
secretary of state, that is -- hadn't been available to play the part. He
offered Levine a job at the United Nations, after his musical career is
over, because of the maestro's skills as a conductor. He recalled the
peacefulness that a Simon concert had given him during a vacation in the
Hamptons after the Gulf War, and quipped, "When he wrote 'Diamonds on the
Soles of Her Shoes,' I am not sure that Paul had Elizabeth Taylor in mind,
but it is a great segue I will not let go." Powell also reminisced about how
he had been smitten by Taylor's "A Place in the Sun," a movie that had given
him "an indelible image" of the screen star: "She was unlike any girls I
knew. She was passion with a capital P."
But Powell pulled out all the stops when he talked about Rivera, who was
sitting with her brothers and sisters, as well as her close collaborators,
lyricist Fred Ebb and composer John Kander. "Spider Woman, this town is at
your feet," Powell began, referring to one of Rivera's Tony-winning roles,
and also mentioning that Washington is her birthplace. And he said she gave
embassies overseas plenty of headaches because so many people had lined up,
clamoring for visas; then he sang "I like to be in America," the signature
line from the play that brought her to fame, "West Side Story."
Rivera, resplendent in black satin, threw her arms up and then stood and
saluted him with a champagne flute. The audience hooted and hollered, and
the sedate Ben Franklin Dining Room was beginning to sound like the owners'
box at an NFL game.
Now in its 25th year, the Honors weekend has a certain regimentality to it:
a Saturday lunch, a State Department dinner that night, at which the medals
are conferred, a crowded Sunday brunch hosted by the producer George Stevens
Jr. and Elizabeth Stevens, a quick reception at the White House, then a
program of salutes that evening at the Kennedy Center with the honorees
ensconced in box seats. Then there is another dinner.
The brunch at the Westin Fairfax Hotel was bustling as usual. Terry
McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, glowed over
Saturday's reelection of Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu. He customized his
message: "You elect Democrats, you get more support for the arts."
Steve Martin was back to serve introductory duty at last night's gala. "I
gave it to Neil Simon and now I'm giving it to Paul Simon," he told a
reporter at the brunch. "What other Simons could I give it to?" Standing by
his side, actress Christine Baranski shot back: "Carly Simon."
Throughout the weekend, the mood is usually upbeat with such Washington
powerhouses as attorneys Robert Barnett and Vernon Jordan, uber-consultant
Kenneth M. Duberstein, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), philanthropist
extraordinaire Catherine B. Reynolds (who just donated $ 100 million to the
center) and Fannie Mae President Franklin Raines mixing with entertainment
celebrities. And this year that contingent included songwriter Burt
Bacharach, singer Dionne Warwick, actors Sidney Poitier, Angela Bassett,
Charles Dutton, Courtney Vance, Ron Silver, Laurence Fishburne, Kelsey
Grammer, Frank Langella, Cicely Tyson, Michele Lee, Michael York and Lynn
Redgrave.
President Bush weighed in with his praise at the White House reception
yesterday. "You have given us all many fine memories," he told the honorees,
seated behind him in the East Room.
At the State Department on Saturday, the cameras held by professional
photographers had to compete with the flashbulbs of the guests aimed at
actresses Julia Ormond (of "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and "Sabrina"), Kim
Cattrall ("Sex and the City") and Rebecca Luker (of the musicals "Show Boat"
and "The Music Man").
Ormond, one of the most striking actresses of her generation, said Taylor
"always brought a well-grounded performance. She is spunky, sexy and smart,
and shines in all her performances."
Glenn Close, the Tony- and Emmy-winning actress, talked about Jones: "The
last time I saw him on stage was in 'Fences.' I went backstage and sobbed
for 10 minutes. I would start to say something and I would start sobbing all
over again. When you see performances like that, it tells you why you are in
this business, and it inspires me to be better."
One of the rituals of the State Department dinner is the offering of toasts
from admirers or mentors. Everyone tried to describe Jones's voice, with
Close settling on thunder. Geoffrey Holder, the actor and dancer, with his
own basso-profundo voice, toasted Jones by covering his own face with a
scarf, pretending to be Darth Vader.
The great Leontyne Price, acknowledging what she called "the extraordinary
diplomatic ambience" of the room, said she was going to be undiplomatically
partial about her friend James Levine. "Your accolades are long overdue,"
she said, and then she lifted her voice. With Verdi's "The Force of Destiny"
as her guide, she changed the lyrics to honor the maestro. The audience
shouted its approval and rose to its feet, cheering.
As the tributes continued, the audience clapped at the mention of Simon's
song titles and pianist Billy Taylor saluted the personal nature of Simon's
music. Edward Albee, the acclaimed playwright who created Taylor's tour de
force in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," described how she can cast a
spell, even on a president. Albee and Taylor were guests of former president
Clinton at a White House party celebrating the new millennium. "As a good
citizen, I asked him how he was doing," Albee recalled. "He said sometimes
it's about as terrible as it can get, and sometimes it is just about as good
as it can get," Albee said. Later in the evening Clinton came back and told
the playwright that Taylor was his dinner companion. "Sometimes it gets just
about as good as it can get," the president told Albee.
After Saturday's dinner, even though Taylor appeared frail, she was highly
animated as people greeted her. Just before the photographers started taking
her picture, she gave an exaggerated yank to her bodice, winked at those who
were watching, straightened her neckline and patted down the Honors ribbon
as if it were a necklace of Harry Winston diamonds. She verbally jostled
with Suellen and Mel Estrin, a Kennedy Center trustee, over an Andy Warhol
silk-screen of her.
"We get to see your beautiful face every day because we have the painting of
you by Andy Warhol," Suellen Estrin told the actress.
"You have the original?" asked Taylor. Estrin said she did.
"Well, I want it," said the actress, only half joking. "If you had any
class, you'd give it to me."
Estrin was unfazed, telling her, "I want a picture of you, but not enough to
give up the painting."
Taylor smiled, posed for a snapshot, and left the rest of the conversation
for another day.
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