Fall gala season is here with its annual marathon of lavish events drawing influential and powerful figures together. Across New York, actors, musicians, politicians, philanthropists and executives, dressed in their finest, schmooze over multicourse dinners and exclusive performances as major institutions appeal to some of the city’s wealthiest residents for financial support and cultural cachet. See who was out, what they wore and how much was raised, updated throughout the week.
Monday, Sept. 23
A Shimmering Season Opener at the Metropolitan Opera
“Look at all these glamorous New Yorkers!” Christine Baranski said. She was remembering her first impression of a Metropolitan Opera opening night: watching from afar, as a young Juilliard student in the days of Mayor John V. Lindsay. The image held at the opera’s opening-night gala on Monday, where the situation was S.R.O. — shuffling room only — from a density of, well, similarly glamorous New Yorkers.
In the hour before a season-opening performance of “Grounded,” Jeanine Tesori’s new opera about a female fighter pilot grappling with the new realities of drone warfare, guests in tuxedos and iridescent gowns squeezed past one another at a cocktail reception on the Grand Tier, variously stepping on trains and forgiving others for stepping on their trains.
At times, the evening had the feeling of a reunion, or of the green room of an actors’ round table. Josh Charles had been speaking with Patricia Clarkson when he spotted Amy Ryan, a fellow theater-camp alumnus. “Amy! How are you?” he called out to her, proudly announcing their mutual Stagedoor Manor credentials.
Edie Falco caught up with the director of “Grounded,” Michael Mayer, whom she has known since at least 1998, when she made her Broadway debut in a play he was directing.
Later, at intermission, when a surprising number of people took their chances in the crowded room with teetering martinis, Mr. Mayer shared a kiss with Jonathan Groff, the reigning Tony Award winner for best actor in a musical.
The black-tie dress code for the gala, which a spokeswoman for the Met said raised $3.5 million, was variously interpreted to mean mother-and-daughter hanboks (Prudence Choi and Lisa E. Choi), a black baseball cap (Peter Dinklage), a golden lobster necklace (Annie McCaughan) and a blindingly white Oscar de la Renta gown (Ms. Baranski). For the opera superstar Renée Fleming, the sartorial daring on display was heartening.
“I think people are more jazzed up about getting dressed up,” she said.
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