Wednesday night’s celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday and reopening of Ford’s Theatre was one of those events that defines the membership in the Washington establishment.
Spotted in the crowd: Attorney General Eric Holder; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.; Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Chris and Kathleen Matthews; Sam Donaldson; former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.; Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Democratic fundraisers Ronald and Beth Dozoretz; Mayor Fenty and his wife, Michelle; former McCain fundraiser Fred Malek; NBC’s Norah O’Donnell and her husband, Chef Geoff Tracy; White House counsel Greg Craig; and D.C. Councilmen Jack Evans and Jim Graham.
Seen and heard throughout the night, which started at Ford’s for the star-studded performance, then migrated over to the National Museum of American History for dinner:
-The biggest gasp of the evening, coming after violin virtuoso Joshua Bell opened the program with “My Lord, What a Morning.” After the piece concluded, emcee Richard Thomas informed the audience that Bell’s instrument was last played in that very theater, on the night Lincoln was shot. We caught up with Bell later, who told us it played surprisingly well, after a a recent restoration. “It was sweet and soulful,” he said, before adding that it “probably wouldn’t be that valuable if it weren’t for the context.” He guessed that it was probably a run-of-the-mill German instrument from the 19th Century. Now owned by the National Park Service, Bell said a uniformed guard followed him around with it at all times. Bell played three other selections during the program, but elected to use his 18th Century Stradivarius violin for those.
-An amusing slip-up by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as she began to introduce fillmmaker George Lucas. “It is an honor indeed to be president … present … at the grand reopening of the Ford’s Theatre,” she erred. Later, she connected the event with Lucas’s “Star Wars” series. “The restoration of Ford’s Theatre and the restoration of The Galactic Republic – who says the arts don’t create jobs?” she asked.
-CBS’s Katie Couric, looking a bit uneasy as she joined the show-closing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” while on stage with such esteemed singers as Jessye Norman, Audra McDonald and Ben Vereen.
-The donors to the Lincoln Bicentennial Campaign, being thanked over and over again. Among the donors, as listed in the printed program: Ronald Perelman, Mysics owner Sheila Johnson, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, Malek, Ronald Dozoretz, PhRMA chief Billy Tauzin and — drumroll, please — Leo J. Hindrey, Jr., the man who provided would-be HHS head Tom Daschle the car and driver for which he didn’t pay taxes. Daschle, it so happens, was in the audience. His wife, lobbyist Linda Daschle, sits on the executive committee of the theater’s board of trustees.
Below, photos from the red carpet and beyond:
Photo: Gene Young
Photo: Gene Young
Photo: Gene Young
Photo: Gene Young
Photo: Gene Young
The gift shop holds all manner of Lincoln paraphernalia, including the inevitable Lincolln bobblehead dolls. (Photo: Jeff Dufour)
Despite the renovation, the box where Lincoln was shot remains largely unchanged. (Photo: Jeff Dufour)
