'Inevitable' Streep will play Clinton
Source: Agencies |
December 6, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AS Meryl Streep and four other artistic luminaries were saluted with Kennedy Center Honors, the actress got a future film assignment - to play the role of Hillary Clinton.
Writer Nora Ephron said Streep's talent, versatility and resemblance to Clinton made it "inevitable" that she would one day play the secretary of state and former first lady.
Clinton, who flew home for 36 hours to celebrate the honorees over the weekend, laughed, while Streep stood up to get a better look at the nation's top diplomat.
Along with Streep, pop singer Neil Diamond, Broadway singer Barbara Cook, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins received the US's top award on Sunday night for those who have influenced American culture through the arts.
Caroline Kennedy, who hosts the show as part of a living memorial to her father, the late President John F. Kennedy, acknowledged her personal connection to one honoree.
In a nod to Diamond, she said he was "a Brooklyn lad with a gift of melody who grew into a solitary man, 'reaching out, touching me.'" That was enough to draw big laughs as the crowd of celebrities and politicians recalled that Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was named for her.
Smokey Robinson sang "Sweet Caroline," with help from Kennedy and fans of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, who have made the song an anthem at their Fenway Park stadium.
Classical music provided the finale, with surprise tributes from comedian Stephen Colbert and the puppet Elmo from TV's "Sesame Street."
"Tonight we celebrate the greatest living cellist," Colbert said "We chell-ebrate, if you will."
Ma, one of the best-known classical musicians, has played cello since he was 4. At age 7, he played for presidents Kennedy and Dwight D Eisenhower. Now at 56, he is hailed as a musical ambassador.
Streep, 62, has made more than 45 movies and won two Oscars in her career spanning Shakespeare to ABBA with the movie "Mamma Mia!" Streep said she was in awe of the accolades. "It's overwhelming. I feel very proud," she said.
Cook, 84, made her Broadway debut in 1951, and later Leonard Bernstein cast her in his musical "Candide." She topped that performance as Marian the Librarian in 1957's "The Music Man," for which she won a Tony Award.
In his distinguished career, Rollins, 81, shared the stage with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among others.
Earlier, President Barack Obama lauded the honorees at the White House. "They have different talents, and they've traveled different paths," Obama said. "And yet they belong here together because each of tonight's honorees has felt the need to express themselves and share that with the world."
Writer Nora Ephron said Streep's talent, versatility and resemblance to Clinton made it "inevitable" that she would one day play the secretary of state and former first lady.
Clinton, who flew home for 36 hours to celebrate the honorees over the weekend, laughed, while Streep stood up to get a better look at the nation's top diplomat.
Along with Streep, pop singer Neil Diamond, Broadway singer Barbara Cook, famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins received the US's top award on Sunday night for those who have influenced American culture through the arts.
Caroline Kennedy, who hosts the show as part of a living memorial to her father, the late President John F. Kennedy, acknowledged her personal connection to one honoree.
In a nod to Diamond, she said he was "a Brooklyn lad with a gift of melody who grew into a solitary man, 'reaching out, touching me.'" That was enough to draw big laughs as the crowd of celebrities and politicians recalled that Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was named for her.
Smokey Robinson sang "Sweet Caroline," with help from Kennedy and fans of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, who have made the song an anthem at their Fenway Park stadium.
Classical music provided the finale, with surprise tributes from comedian Stephen Colbert and the puppet Elmo from TV's "Sesame Street."
"Tonight we celebrate the greatest living cellist," Colbert said "We chell-ebrate, if you will."
Ma, one of the best-known classical musicians, has played cello since he was 4. At age 7, he played for presidents Kennedy and Dwight D Eisenhower. Now at 56, he is hailed as a musical ambassador.
Streep, 62, has made more than 45 movies and won two Oscars in her career spanning Shakespeare to ABBA with the movie "Mamma Mia!" Streep said she was in awe of the accolades. "It's overwhelming. I feel very proud," she said.
Cook, 84, made her Broadway debut in 1951, and later Leonard Bernstein cast her in his musical "Candide." She topped that performance as Marian the Librarian in 1957's "The Music Man," for which she won a Tony Award.
In his distinguished career, Rollins, 81, shared the stage with Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among others.
Earlier, President Barack Obama lauded the honorees at the White House. "They have different talents, and they've traveled different paths," Obama said. "And yet they belong here together because each of tonight's honorees has felt the need to express themselves and share that with the world."
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