Night at the Museums
Galas on Both Sides of Central Park
It was a funny crowd at last night's American Museum of Natural History gala. That was because board member Lorne Michaels had wrangled a bunch of his current and former Saturday Night Live cast members, including Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon, to add a little comic pizzazz to the evening—although with Sir Elton John performing and some unconventional lots (including a private stay with the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and dinner and stargazing with a world-renowned astrophysicist) on the auction block, the official program had more than a few points of interest.
The comedy set isn't necessarily known for its embrace of formalwear, but on this particular occasion, the SNL wardrobe team had helpfully done some outfitting. "I usually don't do these kind of things," Bill Hader explained. "I went to a Catholic high school, so I hate wearing ties." He seemed pleased with his tuxedo situation, though, and he had the show's current guest star, Anne Hathaway, to back him up. "I'm spending the week surrounded by the funniest people in the world," she gushed, underneath one of the main rotunda's giant dinosaur skeletons. "And they clean up real nice!"
Over on the east side, meanwhile, done-up revelers swanned through halls filled with antiquities from ancient Egypt on their way into the Met's annual Apollo Circle Benefit. In the nocturnal glow, the Temple of Dendur and its placid moat were at their finest. So were the girls in gowns, a sizable percentage of which were by Carolina Herrera, who sponsored. "There are a lot of trains. I've stepped on a lot of them—and I've got really, really sharp heels on, too," noted the designer's youngest daughter, Patricia Lansing. "Some of those things are going to have to get knotted." Sure enough, by evening's end, some of the eager gents in the room had been enlisted in a different type of pickup.
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