At the Kennedy Center, an Ode to the Arts, and a Gentle Jab at Biden’s Age

Rarely is the president of the United States, nestled in his field, the focal point on the Kennedy Center Honors, the annual awards ceremony that brings a carousel of celebrities, musicians and actors to the stage to pay tribute to lifetime achievements within the arts.

But such was the case on Sunday night time, when Robert De Niro, celebrating Billy Crystal’s profession, marveled in any respect the honoree had packed into his profession.

“You’re only 75,” Mr. De Niro stated. “That means you’re just about six years away from being the perfect age to be president.”

As President Biden grinned, waved and ruefully shook his finger at Mr. De Niro from the presidential field, members of the viewers leaped to their ft with applause — some to gawk at Mr. Biden’s response from the entrance row of the balcony.

It was the one suggestion of politics in an apolitical, if quintessentially Washington occasion that sees throngs of dignitaries and politicians collect annually to pay tribute to the humanities.

On Sunday, the Kennedy Center honored artists who not solely revolutionized their genres however transcended them: Billy Crystal, the actor and comic; Barry Gibb, the musician and songwriter who rose to fame because the eldest member of the Bee Gees; Renée Fleming, the opera singer; Queen Latifah, the rapper, singer and actress; and Dionne Warwick, the singer.

Ms. Warwick, who has carried out 5 occasions on the Kennedy Center and beforehand appeared on the honors gala to carry out tributes to 2 separate honorees, stated her response to studying that she could be honored was: “Finally, it’s here!”

“It’s a privilege to wear this,” she stated, gesturing to the signature rainbow medallion given to every honoree.

One of the quirks of those Honors is that the solid of musicians, actors and singers paying tribute to the honorees are saved secret from the attendees, and even the honorees themselves. On Sunday, a nonstop collection of bold-lettered names descended on the stage, together with Missy Elliott, Jay Leno, Meg Ryan and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The night blazed by a Broadway-style medley toasting to Mr. Crystal by Mr. Miranda; a showstopping rendition of “Alfie” by Cynthia Erivo, the Tony and Grammy-award profitable singer and actress; tributes to Queen Latifah by Kerry Washington and Rev. Stef and Jubilation, the choir Queen Latifah’s mom had belonged to. It was capped by a stirring rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Tituss Burgess, Christine Baranski and Susan Graham, and a medley of Bee Gees songs by Ariana DeBose.

For Mr. Crystal, the Kennedy Center conjured the Lower East Side onstage, projecting a likeness of Katz’s Delicatessen as a backdrop for Ms. Ryan, Mr. Crystal’s most well-known co-star, of their well-known scene collectively.

“This scene really came naturally to me,” Ms. Ryan stated, to laughter. “I’ve actually never been around anyone who made faking an orgasm easier.”

For Mr. Gibb, musicians together with Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton and Paul McCartney on Sunday mirrored on his intensive record of songs — greater than 1,000, with tracks in numerous genres, like “Islands in the Stream” and “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” and the Bee Gees hits that made him and his brothers well-known.

“He taught us how to walk,” Lionel Richie stated in a prerecorded video interview, because the well-known guitar hook in “Stayin’ Alive” pulsed by the theater.

“Kindness and understanding — we seem to be losing that,” Mr. Gibb stated. “And we need to grab it back as quickly as possible.”

Ms. Fleming, the soprano generally known as “the people’s diva,” stated that she was grateful for the chance to spotlight the humanities.

“Artists really can change hearts and minds and we’re allowed to wrestle with difficult problems and life and death,” Ms. Fleming stated. “Because I’m in the opera world, we all die in opera.”

But she allowed forward of the present that she was experiencing an odd reverse type of stage fright. Performing on the world’s greatest levels could also be second nature to her, however, she stated, “The thing that scares me is sitting in the box!”

Queen Latifah, for her half, appeared ready to take in the expertise. At the State Department dinner on Saturday night time, she informed attendees how she would “never forget” the second. And she appeared visibly moved when Ms. Elliott regaled members of the viewers on Sunday with the reminiscence of Queen Latifah on tv declaring “Ladies first” in her feminist anthem of the identical identify, at a time when “we kept hearing, ‘It’s a man’s world.’”

“She was saying, ‘You will respect me,’” Ms. Elliott stated. “‘I will be a leader. I will be a provider. I will be an inspiration to many.’”

The present will probably be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 27.