Stars Lobby on Hill

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/27/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Famous Hollywood faces graced the halls of Capitol Hill Tuesday during the annual Arts Advocacy Day breakfast, an event that kicked off a day of grassroots lobbying for increased federal funding for the arts, reports PEOPLE. Among those attending included several members of the Creative Coalition: Marlee Matlin, Hector Elizondo, Sharon Lawrence, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Ron Reagan and Harry Shearer. (Coalition president William Baldwin, who is married to Chynna Phillips, was unable to attend because of the death of his father-in-law, Mamas and the Papas founder John Phillips.) Having heard from several supportive members of Congress during the breakfast, some, like Shearer, were optimistic about the meetings that awaited them. "I don't think of this as being either about Democrats or Republicans," the voice behind both Mr. Burns and Smithers on "The Simpsons" told PEOPLE. "I'm going in assuming we'll get a good reception from everybody." Among those who were well received: young Eisenberg, who had to stand on a chair so she could reach the microphone in order to talk about the importance of theater in her school.