Sunday, December 7, 2008

Kennedy Center Honors: Morgan Freeman

WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED WITH IT, TELL ME, STOP BUYING TICKETS. I'LL GO BACK AND I'LL DO SOMETHING ELSE: You might think it difficult to say anything new about this year's set of Kennedy Center Honorees. So give some props to the Washington Post Style section for its set of profiles today in advance of tonight's ceremonies (to be broadcast on CBS later this year):

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend: "'We'd never been heard,' [Townshend] says, the 'we' referring to the British working class of his upbringing. 'So we created our own language, which was rock-and-roll. And this honor is the establishment saying, We hear you. And that's a strange thing, because if they can hear us, maybe we don't need to do this anymore. It's like somebody saying to Tupac Shakur, Ah, I understand what you're saying. Well, you're not supposed to understand what he's saying. You're supposed to be [expletive] scared.'"

Morgan Freeman: "'As an actor,' Freeman says, 'you like to be well rounded. But the industry puts you in a niche. I don't think Sidney [Poitier] ever successfully played a bad part. Fonda did once in 'Once Upon a Time in the West,' but it was the only time he played a really bad guy. Gary Cooper never did. Clark Gable never did. So you're in good company when you get packaged as Mr. Good Guy. Of course, you have to be careful in thinking that's who you are in life. It's called the Othello effect. Taking the character offstage.'"

Barbra Streisand: "When Hamlisch assembles the musicians for a Streisand tour, for example, he tells them that if they're not willing to bend the rules and work serious overtime, forget it: 'If we're going to do this by the letter of the law, then don't do this,' he instructs them. 'I'm not going to stop if she is on a creative roll.'

'Her talent is her voice and her unbelievable taste level,' he adds. 'Let's assume you were working for NASA and they're going to be putting a man on the moon. Everyone has to do a perfect job. What she is, is the vessel that can get you to the moon.'"

Twyla Tharp: "'Well, it's an old story,' Tharp says. 'It's called independence. It begins with Mozart. Haydn wasn't liberated. Haydn accepted that he ate in the kitchen with the servants and he wore the livery. Mozart wanted to eat at the table. It's about having control over the work that you do and controlling what you will do, and that is part and parcel of having the wherewithal to do it.'"

George Jones: "'You think about the things you done, the way you treated people,' he says. 'I'm troubled with those thoughts quite often. You just wished you hadn't hurt people like you'll do when you're messed up. It was pretty bad. I'll tell you what bothers me more than anything: All the dates I missed, when I got the title No-Show Jones. In my mind, I can envision these people, the old grandma and her daughter, they saved their money for probably a couple of months, gave up things, walked down the country roads or whatever to go to the show, and I'm not there. I can just see these people in my mind. I let 'em down. So many of them. That bothers me worst of all.'"

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