WHen lasers shoot across the storied opera house at Washington’s cultural arts center, you know it’s the dawning of a new era for the Kennedy Center Honors.

The Honors have always been a Venn diagram of artistic, entertainment and policital spheres.  The 2015 edition, which honored singer/songwriter Carole King, director/producer George LUcas, actress/singer Rita Moreno, actress Cicely Tyson and conductor Seiji Ozawa, titled strongly to the Hollywood camp.

Under new direction by Tony Awards veterans Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry in the first changing of the guard since George Stevens Jr. created the Honors in 1978, the sets were livelier, hues brighter, speeches shorter and videoclips in abundance.

Of course, there were reminders of the A-list attendees gathered in nation’s capital.  Most saliently, President Obama arrived post-intermission.  Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped induct King, joked he would be a huge fan even if she hadn’t helped pay off his campaign debt.  And host Stephen COlber, back for his second year, opened by acknowledging all the attendees, include “the small handful of you who aren’t running for president.”

The tribute to Moreno, one of only eight living performers who’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tonly, featured an emotional love letter from Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez and a lively performance by Rosie Perez, who re-created Moreno’s Emmy-winning take on “Fever” backed by the Muppets’ Animal on drums.

Ozawa, who served as music director for the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 seasons, received a video tribute narrated by composer John WIlliams, accolades from opera singer Renee Fleming and a performance by cellist Yo-Yo-Ma, who told Billboard pre-show, “Seiji has been a great role model to so many musicians in that he cares so much about young people.  He gave me so many chances to start teaching, and I’m forever gateful”.

The new format really kicked in for the Lucas tribute.  Carrie Fisher appeared via “video email” projected by R2-D2 in a throwback to the 1977 original film, C-3PO and a gaggle of stormtroppers took the stage, and an orchestral rendition of the Star Wars theme was set to film clips.  Then came those crowd-pleasing lasers.

Longtime colleagues Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese also took the stage, the latter noting Lucas’ love of music, saying, “The music in his pictures becomes another character.”  As for his latest musicial inspirations, Lucas told Billboard, “I’m not thinking about my next project.  I’m raising my 2-year old daughter, so I’m hearing a lot of children’s songs.”  As for The Force Awakens, he said, “I think the fans are going to love it.”

Quality: Quality is excellent, about 9.0 using our Quality Rating Table.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
Format: 1 PAL DVD-R disc.
Special Price: $16.00