The Public Theater 2006 Gala

By some stroke of luck, I was invited at the last minute to sit at the company table at the 2006 Public Theater Gala, held on opening night of Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. To be honest, I was just as excited to be there for all the glamour of the event as I was was for the performance of Macbeth, and the opportunity to watch Shakespeare under the stars.

To put it plainly, I knew Jennifer Ehle would be performing, and I've had a huge crush on her since her turn as Elizabeth Bennett in the BBC's Pride and Prejudice in the mid-90s. And I also knew that this particular event tends to be studded with celebrities who support theater (but are often better known for their film work) and Big New York Personalities, so I couldn't resist.

The event did not disappoint. A quickie roll-call of the folks who were there: Jessica Lange (sitting at table 26, just next to us!), Candice Bergen (who has an aesthetic eerily similar to Martha's), Mayor Mike, Anna Quindlen, Julianna Margulies, Diane von Furstenberg, Sam Rockwell (with whom I shared a bench with one day in Tompkins Square Park, and saw him wearing a Williams College athletics tee-shirt), Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber and my personal old school favorite, Bronson Pinchot, better known as Cousin Balki from "Perfect Strangers."

At the risk of seeming less like a cool, collected person accustomed to these kinds of events, and more like a teeny-bopper, I'd like to share some incredibly blurry photos taken with my trusty spycam of a few other fun folks at the gala:

* Tom Hanks (sitting with the black cap) and Steve Martin (sitting with the green-grey cap just beyond him). They had what looked like their kids in tow, and at some point ol' Tommy introduced his sons to Chelsea Clinton. awwww. They were all sitting in the center section just a few rows behind the night's honorees, Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.



* Cynthia Nixon's back. I had a much better view of her in real life, and I thought she looked beautiful in a cream dress with a black sash, but a combination of embarrassing my boss and pissing off "Miranda Hobbes" kept me from snapping when she was looking.




* And of course the life of the party, President [Bubba] Clinton! What a stud.






Finally, I must mention that I met my teen idol Ethan Hawke (who has a solid handshake, but was otherwise distracted and strange), due to the good graces of my boss' guest, Dan, who like a White Knight also saved my dessert macaroon from being prematurely bussed, and rescued a fly from drowning in my water glass.

Yes, it was a complete and lovely June evening, here in New York.