To hear it from a (rather opinionated) opera regular, the gentlemen at last fall’s Opening Night Gala arguably outshone the women in the looks they chose for the big night, one of New York’s most upscale society events.
With bated breath, this particular guest, who chose a simple black ensemble herself, wondered what fashion moments might descend up the opera house stairs on Tuesday, for the 2023 Opening Night Gala at the Metropolitan Opera. As it turned out, she was in stride with her muted ensemble: much of the VIP crowd followed suit, dressed in a manner both festive yet appropriate given the night’s show: “Dead Man Walking,” the story of a nun working to help overturn the death penalty conviction of a rapist and murderer.
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Before the heaviness of the night’s production set in, the lobby of the opera house buzzed about during cocktail hour. Selfies were snapped and Champagne poured as Met Opera patrons and celebrities alike milled. Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance were on the early side of celebrity arrivals, and posed for photos before disappearing into the room. There was Sigourney Weaver, who chatted with Whoopi Goldberg; Jon Hamm and his new wife, Anna Osceola, who made a date night of the occasion, and asked for directions with a furrowed brow after he satiated photography obligations; Christopher Abbott, who stars alongside Aubrey Plaza off Broadway in “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” this fall, wore a dark, rumpled suit; and Bridget Everett (one of the rare attendees to wear color) whooped as a greeting.
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Anne Hathawy and husband Adam Shulman arrived close to showtime, and just as they were heading into the theater she was pulled out by yet another photography request, which she happily obliged. “But if I get in trouble it’s your fault!” she teased the photographer.
After her conversation with Weaver wrapped, Goldberg strolled through the room, a pair of Croc-like shoes on her feet, stopping for selfies as the requests came in.
Ben Stiller was there, not a usual face on the New York social circuit, and caused quite a buzz.
“Is that?” a woman in a fur shrug said to her palazzo pant-wearing companion at the sight of the actor. “Yes!” she said back to her in the same breath.
Stiller, for his part, threw a comedic gab as he passed reporters. “I’m so not into the opera,” he smirked.
Other guests included Peter Sarsgaard, Georgina Chapman, Patti LuPone, Rebecca Hall and Morgan Spector, Ellen Burstyn, Edie Falco, Marcia Gay Harden, Patrick Stewart and Sunny Ozell, Gina Gershon, Neil Patrick Harris, Rupert Friend and Aimee Mullins, Sarita Choudhury, Jeremy O. Harris, Zac Posen and more.