Hollywood celebrities, Web activists and jet-setters from around the world are preparing to turn the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 into a mix of Woodstock and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech on the National Mall.While the plans of many top politicians and entertainment stars hang on pending details about the Commander-in-Chief Ball and other official events that Mr. Obama is likely to attend, dozens of other big-ticket parties are already taking shape. The Creative Coalition, an advocacy group, will host a ball at the Harman Center for the Arts. Spike Lee will be at the event, Susan Sarandon is likely to attend and the group is in discussions with such musicians as Elvis Costello to perform. Tickets to the fund-raiser, where director Barry Levinson will be shooting final scenes for a film called "Poliwood," a documentary about Hollywood's involvement in the presidential race, are still available -- a $10,000 "bronze" package admits two.
Love, one of the few Washington nightclubs that sees a steady flow of celebrities, is adding tents to triple its capacity to about 7,000. "The last time we had that many people it was for Beyoncé," says owner Marc Barnes about a concert with Ms. Knowles in 2002.
Inaugural Journeys
Many of Mr. Obama's supporters in Hollywood kept a low profile during the campaign, in part because of efforts by Sen. John McCain to cast his opponent as a celebrity. The inauguration offers a chance for celebrities to come out of the shadows. Oprah Winfrey, for example, plans to be on hand, and so does the singer India.Arie. Invitations go out in December for a party being hosted by real-estate mogul and Obama insider R. Donahue Peebles, his wife Katrina and an evolving list of celebrity co-hosts, including Star Jones and Chris Tucker, at the posh Georgetown Club. The invitation-only event for a few hundred guests will kick off at midnight after official festivities on Jan. 20; it runs til 4 a.m. and breakfast dishes will be served.