Kennedy Center Honors

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The Kennedy Center Honors are held to be the highlight event in the cultural life of the United States. The idea was the brainchild of George Stevens, Jr., still involved, and he and his partner, the late Nick Vanoff, put together the first event, launching it in 1978. Since then, the Awards have been presented annually in Washington DC at the Kennedy Center, where it follows an established pattern.

Early in the year a select number of well-known performers and past recipients of the awards suggest names of those who have not been honored before to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The names, five in all, must belong to people who, in the opinion of the Board, should be recognized for their contributions to the culture of the American people over a lifetime of excellence in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures or television.

A selection is made, each one representative of a branch of the arts, and is announced by the committee around the middle of the year, and soon hundreds of much sought-after invitations will be mailed out. And, because this is a fund-raising occasion, tickets are available to be bought.

Then what happens at the beginning of December each year makes for a memorable weekend, and some of it gets to be seen by the public in the televised recording, aired just before or after Christmas.

The annual feel-good event is completely non partisan and non political, and hopes are always that the current situation will allow the President to attend. People arrive from all over the world, and the activities begin on the first day, a Saturday, with lunch at the Kennedy Center, a chance for old friends to meet, and a welcoming speech by the President of the Board of Trustees. The afternoon is time to rest and prepare for the evening reception and dinner at the State Department, presided over by the Secretary of State, again hopefully around, where the year's Honorees are introduced, with commentary by notable friends.

Next day is Sunday, perhaps a few leisurely cocktail parties around town, rest, and a sprucing up for the early evening White House reception where the honorees will be introduced in the East Room by the President of the United States, who will then hang a specially designed ribboned award around their necks. Notable is the fact that at no time is the recipient permitted to speak, difficult for their usually expressive personalities. Everyone is then bussed to the nearby Kennedy Center, ready for the show to begin.

The Honorees sit in a row at the front of the Grand Circle, a few seats away from the President and the First Family. The show consists of carefully selected events from the recipients' lives, presented documentary style in film and live onstage, and the idea is to surprise them with what they are about to see.

Afterwards, a late supper dance in the theatre's Grand Foyer, ending finally around dawn, and farewells until next year.