Ricky Martin, D.C.-Charged

By Stephen M. Silverman

06/09/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Recent PEOPLE coverboy Ricky Martin, 29, will join rocker Van Morrison, "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer and theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for the entertainment portion of the festivities surrounding the presidential inauguration of George W. Bush. The show -- to be called "Celebrating America's Spirit Together" and also expected to include military bands, skydivers and fireworks -- will take place Jan. 18 at a Lincoln Memorial gala. The Republican inaugural committee invited Lloyd Webber to present a piano with soloist and choir from his recently opened London musical about problems in Ireland, "The Beautiful Game." TV veteran George Schlatter, whose credits include the '60s show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," is producing the Thursday night bash. It was Schlatter who, in 1968, got Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon on the program to say, "Sock it to ME?" Variety notes that the kickoff bash for Bill Clinton in 1992 carried a $7-million price tag. The obviously more budget-minded Republican National Committee has set aside $1.5 million for its show.