Posted: 12/26/17 at 9:17pm
Posted: 12/26/17 at 9:26pm
I think they only choose to honour the people who are still alive so no Merman. this has been said for many times before but: Carol Channing!!
Posted: 12/26/17 at 9:29pm
Posted: 12/26/17 at 9:46pm
I think I could easily list 50 or more people that should be honored before LL Cool J.
Posted: 12/26/17 at 9:56pm
Posted: 12/26/17 at 10:08pm
Posted: 12/26/17 at 10:25pm
The whole affair seems a bit unfair to the already dead.
Posted: 12/26/17 at 11:22pm
Hopefully whoever is going to be honored can stick out a little longer so they don't have to be honored by you know who.
Posted: 12/26/17 at 11:34pm
ACL2006 said: "I think I could easily list 50 or more people that should be honored before LL Cool J."
Agreed. I would love to see George Clinton get honered. Also I think Rod Temperton should have gotten one although he is from England and not sure he was eligible. He wfote some of Michael Jackson's grsatest hits and worked with Quincey Jones. He wrote a lot of classic R&B songs.
Updated On: 12/27/17 at 11:34 PM
Posted: 12/26/17 at 11:46pm
BroadwayConcierge said: "Betty and Bette for sure."
I agree with Bette, but Betty? Because she has lived so long? She is a supporting player in a bunch of TV shows.
Carol Channing's portfolio is too narrow. Never gonna happen and shouldn't.
Re Broadway regulars / occasionals, where are Glenn Close, Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters, Sally Field, Jessica Lange, (a stretch) Kevin Kline and Rosemary Harris?
I also agree re Cher...absolutely. Don't agree re Liza...she sorta destroyed her career at some point and has been a caricature since then IMO. In don't think Tommy Tune will get it, but -- had he not essentially retired X years ago -- I imagine he would have been a serious candidate.
Posted: 12/27/17 at 12:02am
Jarethan said: "I agree with Bette, but Betty? Because she has lived so long? She is a supporting player in a bunch of TV shows."
Betty has been an icon of American culture for decades. She may not have had a bona fide leading role, but her career is unbelievable, and if a Kennedy Center Honor is about contributing to American culture, Betty White—from Mary Tyler Moore to Golden Girls to everything else—has done just that.
I'll also second your Glenn Close vote 
Posted: 12/27/17 at 12:04am
I’m surprised Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz haven’t been honored for their contributions to both theatre and film.
I’ll also second Patti and Bernadette.
Moving totally away from theatre, country legend George Strait seems like a glaring omission from the list of past honorees from the music business.
Updated On: 12/27/17 at 12:04 AM
Posted: 12/27/17 at 12:05am
Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald and Lin Manuel Miranda seem the strongest contenders of people who are currently and regularly working in theater. Harvey Feinstein, Bernadette Peters and Bryan Cranston are definite possibilities. Frank Langella would be a great choice, but he just might be too "New York."
By the way, Mary Martin was nearing the end of her life when she received her Kennedy Center Honor, and Ethel Merman had passed away several years earlier.
Updated On: 12/27/17 at 12:05 AM
Posted: 12/27/17 at 12:09am
Dancingthrulife2 said: "Hopefully whoever is going to be honored can stick out a little longer so they don't have to be honored by you know who."
None of this year’s honorees were honored by the Idiot, as at least two of them claimed they would have declined the honor had he participated.
The sitting President has no official role in selecting or honoring anyone. He has, historically, until this year, held a White House reception and attended the ceremony. This year, there was no White House reception and Rex Tillerson and the State Department hosted the dinner.
Updated On: 12/27/17 at 12:09 AM
Posted: 12/27/17 at 1:50am
Posted: 12/27/17 at 1:59am
Posted: 12/27/17 at 5:39am
Away from the theatre, I believe RuPaul could deserve it. He's been a household name and it takes someone very special to bring the art of drag to the mainstream
Posted: 12/27/17 at 9:15am
I wasn't saying LL Cool J didn't deserve to be honored. Just that there's a long list of people that should have been honored before him. LL probably could've waited 10 years or so before being honored(he's only 49).
Posted: 12/27/17 at 11:10am
Posted: 12/27/17 at 11:13am
Springsteen and Belafonte have been honored, yes. Bruce during the Obama years, Belafonte way back in 1989.
Posted: 12/27/17 at 11:16am
The Other One said: "Springsteen and Belafonte have been honored, yes. Bruce during the Obama years, Belafonte way back in 1989."
Thanks! I watch every year, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.
