Frock Opera
A Dressed-Up Opening Night at the Met
Inside Lincoln Center last night, it wasn't your typical night at the opera. With Yves Saint Laurent sponsoring the Met's gala premiere of Rossini's Armida, girls in gowns lit up the cocktail hour, and the show itself (which stars Renée Fleming as a Syrian sorceress who puts an army of Crusaders under her spell) got a bit of a glamour boost from the stars in the audience.
One of them was Camilla Belle, who apparently feels right at home in the box seats. She'd spent the weekend seeing Broadway shows (In the Heights, Red) and grew up listening to Mozart ("he inspired me to play the piano") and singing in her high school choir. "It was a really respected group at my school. Luckily, we weren't made fun of at all," Belle assured us. "And my choir director was obsessed with Renée Fleming, so he's going to have a breakdown when I tell him that I watched her."
Meanwhile, Chloë Sevigny chatted with her Big Love co-star Ginnifer Goodwin, Maggie Gyllenhaal paired off with Patricia Clarkson, and Bette Midler explained that she was one of very few guests at the pre-show dinner to have played the Met before. "I sang for a private individual—a man with a lot of money," she recalled. "And exquisite taste!"
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