Holland Taylor Instagram – Hillary arranged the whole night. Having seen it in DC, she knew. They brought Meryl and Don. Meryl told me, he kept saying, this is all so true to her, so accurate. “He just roared at the Arkansas joke…” They were so interested in the process. I didn’t know they were coming, as Kevin really protects me from distraction. He greeted me as I stepped off the stage and said, “Don’t kick your shoes off, you’re coming with me,” and swept me into the back corridors of Lincoln Center until we finally arrived at a door opening into large reception room with the Clintons, Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly and… MERYL STREEP! I was speechless, but not for long. The President was still teary-eyed and Hillary just beamed at the surprise event she had made. Meryl seemed genuinely excited and told me how the President kept nudging her and saying. “This is so accurate!” and guffawed at the Arkansas joke. I was so thrilled to talk with them all as they seemed avidly interested in the whole process of making the show. It was wonderful to look into Gabby Giffords’s eyes and see the sparkling perfect presence there, and to meet astronaut Mark Kelly, whom I now support politically, of course. These pictures were all snapped on my phone by my dresser Barry Doss, but they had the great photog Brigitte Lacombe at that event for official coverage, so I sometimes see her shots still out there. What a night. The reception was long, and as Kevin led me out, he said, ”You have a few more people here…” and lo and behold, all the Kennedy Center ushers awaited in their own reception area! What an unbelievable night!!! And yep, of course, I had a matinée the next morning…