12-21-09 : 32nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors
Mel, along with Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Grace Bumbry and David Brubreck were recipients of The 2009 Kennedy Center Honors presented on Dec 6th. The Honors represent those that have made life time contributions to the American culture. The event will be broadcast December 29th (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, with Caroline Kennedy as host for the seventh consecutive year. Roger Bart, Gary Beach and Matthew Broderick were but a few of the stars in attendance. Mel was honored by long time friend Carl Reiner, acting alum Frank Langella and director Susan Stroman. I’m not sure why Nathan Lane was unable to attend but I’m sure he would have been there if he could have been. Below is an excerpt from the official press release:
Multiple Emmy Award-winning actor Carl Reiner paid tribute to multiple Academy Award, Emmy Award, Grammy Award and Tony Award-winning writer, composer, actor, director and producer Mel Brooks, speaking of how he had known Brooks for more than 60 years, having most famously collaborated with him on the 1975 television show, “The 2000 Year Old Man.”
Next, Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominated actor Frank Langella, who appeared in the Mel Brooks-directed movie The Twelve Chairs in 1970, introduced a rousing musical tribute to Brooks, playfully entitled “The Music of Mel,” beginning with his own spoken word version of “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst,” which he originally performed in the movie. He was followed by Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Martin Short, who starred in the successful Mel Brooks Broadway musical The Producers, performing a hilarious rendition of another Brooks classic, “He Rode a Blazing Saddle,” from the 1974 movie Blazing Saddles. Next up was Golden Globe nominee Jack Black with “Men in Tights,” from the Mel Brooks-directed 1993 movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights, followed by Grammy Award and Emmy Award-winning musician and actor Harry Connick, Jr. with “High Anxiety” from the 1977 movie of the same name. Connick, Jr. was followed by actor Richard Kind singing “The Inquisition” from the 1981 movie, History of the World Part 1. Then came a Broadway medley, with Tony Award-winner Jane Krakowski singing “When You Got It, Flaunt It,” Tony Award-winner Roger Bart, Tony Award-winner Shuler Hensley and singer Cory English with “Together Again (For the First Time),” Tony Award nominee Matthew Morrison with “Springtime for Hitler,” Tony Award-winner Gary Beach with “Heil Myself” and Tony Award-winner Matthew Broderick singing “I Wanna Be a Producer,” and all of the performers concluding the thoroughly enjoyable performance with “Til Him.”
Multiple Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who directed and choreographed the sensational, record-breaking Broadway musical The Producers for Mel Brooks, choreographed and co-produced the entire Mel Brooks tribute performance.
Posted: December 21st, 2009 under Carl Reiner, Television, The Producers, General.
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