She’s been a sensation since she’s been born, and now Blue Ivy has made her public debut.Even when their hit crime shows have ended their seasons on CBS, Joe Mantegna, left, and Gary Sinise know their TV work isn’t done.
Since 2006, the respective “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” actors – longtime friends and Chicago-area natives – have hosted the National Memorial Day Concert. They’ll be back at the U.S. Capitol to mark the 20th anniversary of the event’s PBS broadcasts at 8 tonight.
As always, the concert will merge music and dramatic readings. Participants will include Laurence Fishburne, Katie Holmes and two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest.
Country star Trace Adkins, 2006 “American Idol” finalist Katharine McPhee, Broadway veterans Brian Stokes Mitchell and Colm Wilkinson, opera’s Denyce Graves, violinist Robert McDuffie, and classical performer Lang Lang also will appear. Retired Gen. Colin Powell and conductor Erich Kunzel, who again leads the National Symphony Orchestra, also return this year.
Mantegna had been involved in the National Memorial Day Concert for several years when he encouraged Sinise, well-known for his support of the U.S. military, to join in. With his Lt. Dan Band, named after his character in “Forrest Gump,” Sinise has played in many USO shows.
“It’s something I look forward to every year,” he says of the concert.
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