Elizabeth McGovern Honored At '13 Harman Center for the Arts Gala

PENN QUARTER -- Hundreds of Washingtonians, including Associate Justice Samuel Alito, former Congresswoman Jane Harman, and Senator Patrick Leahy, channeled their inner Bard on Sunday evening, as the Harman Center for the Arts rolled out the red carpet for its signature annual gala.

Veteran star of both stage and screen, including the current international smash TV hit Downton Abbey, Elizabeth McGovern was presented with the 2013 William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre and professional services powerhouse KPMG was honored with the Sidney Harman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts.

Much as it has been in prior years, yesterday's black tie celebration was divided into two 'acts', with the earlier part of the evening hosted at the Harman Center itself. After a brief opening reception on the venue's glass-encased second floor, guests were promptly ushered inside the performance hall for a unique, multidisciplinary program that highlighted everything from ballet to opera to Broadway musicals.

Given McGovern's more recent work 'across the pond' (she's married to British film director and producer Simon Curtis), her adopted country of Great Britain and her role on Downton was the subject of much playful parody. But her formative years at Juilliard (where she first met current Shakespeare Theatre Company artistic director Michael Kahn) and her big Hollywood break in Ordinary People were also touched upon.

A closing set of songs by a Beatles cover band ensured that everyone left the theater with a spring in their step, as they made their way down the block to the neighboring National Building Museum for the dinner and dancing portion of the night.

There, a magnificently decorated banquet hall had been temporarily constructed, complete with a soaring crystal chandelier above the fountain serving as the room's centerpiece.

Parting from such an elegant oasis as the clock struck midnight was, as Shakespeare once wrote, "such sweet sorrow."