Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended Saturday night’s (July 20) performance of King Lear at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel. Â According to others in attendance, they were the first on their feet to give the cast, led by Stephen Paul Johnson as Lear a rousing ovation at the conclusion. Â This marks the Clintons’ second visit to the Festival; they attended a 2009 performance of Pericles, generating as much excitement amongst the audience, the actors and the staff as they did this time around.
Photos by Rhiannon Marino


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My husband and I sat next to Hillary and I can tell you both she and Bill (see how quickly we got on first-name terms) were absolutely delightful — very welcoming to everyone who came over to meet them, completely attentive during the entire play and quick to compliment the actors on a great performance. And never once did they check their BlackBerries. Very warm and engaging. It was great fun.