It was a polished, orchestrated extravaganza.
Yet the We Are One Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday was an event for the history books, attracting an estimated 400,000 people.
The man bringing them all together, of course, was Barack Obama. But the man staging the celebration was executive producer George Stevens Jr.
Stevens, who blogged on Huffington Post about the preparations, is no stranger to big productions.
His father, George Stevens, was the renowned movie director who won Oscars for The Diary of Anne Frank and Giant. He also directed Shane, A Place in the Sun and Woman of the Year.
Stevens Jr. has for years produced the annual Kennedy Centers Honors programs and American Film Institute salutes to legends such as Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Billy Wilder and Gene Kelly.
Stars of equal caliber fell all over themselves to be part of the show yesterday. The program, broadcast on HBO, included Denzel Washington, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Pete Seeger, Garth Brooks and Tom Hanks. Obama spoke briefly.
The venue was unbeatable. It was here that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech. Marian Anderson sang here in 1939, after she was denied access to Constitution Hall because of her race.
In keeping with the event’s theme, the lineup featured unlikely combinations. Sheryl Crow sang with will.i.am. Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi performed “A Change Is Gonna Come.” John Mellencamp was backed by a 60-member Baptist choir. (His “little pink houses for you and me” had a particular resonance.)
The Obamas, seated to the side, smiled and sang along, setting a new tone: Hollywood is once again welcome in Washington.
But that wasn’t the primary message. The crowd jamming the mall was as diverse as the performers onstage.
“As I stand here tonight, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between,” Obama said. “It is you - Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.”
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