Robert De Niro, Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, and Bruce Springsteen recognized for their contribution to the arts at the 32nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors.

By Karin Tanabe

Honoree Bruce Springsteen with his wife Patti Scialfa (Photo by Joseph Allen)

American legends Robert De Niro, Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, and Bruce Springsteen were saluted for their contribution to the arts on Sunday at the Kennedy Center Honors. Often touted as the “Oscars of the East,” the annual event pulled in almost as much star power as the inauguration. Musicians, actors, politicos, and other boldfaced names rubbed shoulders on the red carpet before sitting down for a three-hour show.

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All the people, all the (best) parties before, during, and after this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner

By Janet Donovan

Ludacris with Eva Longoria Parker. Photo by Tony Powell.

You Betcha!

The Alaskan travel industry got a boost when female guests at Tammy Haddad’s annual brunch preceding the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner ran into that state’s “First Dude,” Todd Palin. His play date, Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren, did the intros in lieu of his wife, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who remained back home to oversee what was called the most serious flooding in decades. Luckily, she also bowed out of Saturday night’s dinner where comedian Wanda Sykes shot a lowball joke in her direction, best not repeated here. Washington women looking for their man of steel should not stop but go directly to www.travelalaska.com.

The star of the day was sea hero Capt. Richard Phillips of pirate fame, whose presence erupted into a media frenzy worthy of Paris Hilton. While friendly and chatty, he remained tight-lipped about his capture and rescue off the Somali coast, probably on advice of counsel.

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Location: Ford’s Theatre

Photos by Reflections Photography

THE EVENT: On the eve of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Washington and Hollywood’s brightest stars joined the president and first lady to celebrate the reopening of the historic theater after its recent $25 million renovation. Joshua Bell began the festivities on a spiritual note using a violin that was last played the night Lincoln was assassinated. He was followed by former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush reading, in turn, excerpts from the “Gettysburg Address.” IN ATTENDANCE: James Earl Jones, Jessye Norman, Kelsey Grammer, Ben Vereen, Audra McDonald, and Katie Couric also offered tributes to the 16th president.

Katie Couric’s Sewell-Belmont House award in honor of early suffrage advocate Alice Paul.

By Barbara Harrison

Katie Couric hugs Margaret Suzor

After the death of her beloved husband, I watched my friend Katie Couric take on the mantle of single-mom, wage a worldwide war on colon cancer, and bravely face down an entrenched male-only tradition by becoming the first single female anchor of a network news broadcast.  She is a stalwart soldier when it comes to fighting for what she believes in, and her shoes, as tiny as they are, are hard to fill. 

Turning the clock back to nearly a hundred years ago, it’s easy to imagine Katie fighting for women’s rights among suffragists like Alice Paul. Six years before women were granted the right to vote, Paul called Washington’s attention to the disenfranchisement of women in this country. Along with others, she succeeded in stealing attention from newly elected President Woodrow Wilson’s arrival in Washington. Crowds instead lined Pennsylvania Avenue for the Woman Suffrage Parade, a moment considered a turning point for women’s rights.

Much of this history can be found at the Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, just a stone’s throw from the U.S. Capitol. In 1929 it was sold to the National Women’s Party and has served as its headquarters and museum to this day. The prestigious award, chosen by the staff, is given to a distinguished woman who has made outstanding contributions in breaking barriers and setting new precedents for women, as did Alice Paul and the women with whom she fought for women’s rights.

Katie Couric’s daring to eschew the “status quo” makes her a pioneer of the 21st century. Her positive impact on the lives of others across the country is why she was chosen for this year’s Alice Award. 

As is tradition, the ceremony was held in the garden of the Sewall Belmont House. With the award, Katie has now joined a prestigious group of former honorees, among them Evelyn Lauder, Billie Jean King, Tipper Gore, Cokie Roberts, Susan Stamberg, Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer, and Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Mary Landrieu. All continue to serve as champions for women. 

Katie is a fighter. Who knows what battles she’ll take on next?

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Producer Karim Chrobog and star Emmanuel Jal at the premiere of their award-winning documentary, War Child

Films by Washingtonians won accolades – and awards – at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival.

Founded in 2001 to help revitalize lower Manhattan following 9-11, the Tribeca Film Festival today ranks among the world’s most prestigious festivals, with a reputation for launching hot new talent and tackling controversial subjects. This year, Washington filmmakers came out for premieres, parties, and, for the very first time, on the awards podium. Native sons Tom and Paul Hardart celebrated the opening of the historical drama they co-produced, Before the Rains, at the hip downtown eatery One Oak, where members of the cast were joined by a number of Hardart cousins and The Daily Show’s newest correspondent, Aasif Mandvi. Drink of choice? The Cham-Bull, a potent mix of champagne and Red Bull.
Later that night, Katie Couric and designer Kay Unger were among the VIP guests at Craftsteak restaurant for a surprise party for CEO and film producer Sheila Johnson, whose latest project, A Powerful Noise, premiered at the festival. Johnson is an outspoken advocate on issues of global poverty and women’s rights and serves as an ambassador for the international aid organization CARE, which hosted the event, and whose representatives helped to facilitate the location filming of A Powerful Noise. The following day Johnson was joined at the film’s official premiere by fellow CARE Ambassador Christy Turlington Burns and her husband, actor Ed Burns, and by CARE’s CEO, Dr. Helene Gayle. Following the screening, guests were invited to an after-party at the recently completed Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design.
One of the most coveted prizes at any film festival is the audience choice award, and the Tribeca 2008 Cadillac Award, The Audience Choice for Best Feature Film, went to Washingtonian producer/director Karim Chrobog, who’s moving documentary, War Child, chronicles the unlikely journey of Sudanese singer/rapper Emmanuel Jal from child soldier to internationally acclaimed recording artist. Jal’s third album, Ceasefire, will be released in the U.S. later this year.