"I'm just starting to get into the opera," said photographer Cindy Sherman prior to the Metropolitan Opera's premiere of a new production of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly on Monday night. "And this seems like a pretty good start." That was putting it mildly. For its season opener, the Met pulled out all the stops, including a live feed of the Anthony Minghella–directed performance on oversize screens in Lincoln Center and Times Square. The theater itself was practically levitating, thanks to the Oscar-winning moviemaker's starry cast of supporters, which included Sir Sean Connery, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, Liv Tyler, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber and—the most photographed pair of the evening—the on-again Jude Law and Sienna Miller. "Can I be really annoying and bum a smoke?" Miller later asked a reporter. "I'm from London. We're not used to this 'no smoking' thing."

During the first intermission, gala chair Annette de la Renta joined Barbara Walters and Donald Trump in toasting Mercedes Bass for her $25 million donation to the house (the largest single unrestricted gift in the Met's history). And the goodwill was still flowing as guests exited the three-hour performance and headed to a makeshift pavilion for dinner. "Fantastic," pronounced Connery, stretching out the adjective in his famous sibilant baritone. Minghella, meanwhile, was busy absorbing another record-breaking amount, the $3 million that was raised by the evening itself. "We have a lot of family and friends here, some of whom have never been to the opera, so it's great to show them why this has been so popular for over 100 years," he said. Opera first-timer Jimmy Fallon wasn't completely won over, though. "I thought it would be funnier," he said.

— Sarah Cristobal