A Grand View of ‘Avalon’

The Scene: Thursday night in New York, where Tri-Star Pictures’ new film “Avalon” received a gala premiere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After screening in the Egyptian Wing’s Rogers Auditorium, guests gathered in the Grand Hall for a concentrated hour of celebration, Manhattan style.

The Buzz: Tri-Star is throwing three premieres for “Avalon.” Sunday night the film was launched in Baltimore, the home town of director Barry Levinson and the setting for the picture. L.A. gets its first glimpse of the film on Wednesday at its third and final premiere.

Who Was There: Tri-Star chairman Mike Medavoy, director Levinson with wife Diana, producer Mark Johnson and wife Lezlie, cast members Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elizabeth Perkins and Lou Jacobi, as well as Bianca Jagger, author Fran Liebowitz, Ellen Barkin and husband Gabriel Byrne, Dustin Hoffman, Lauren Hutton, Sidney Lumet, Norman Jewison, Herbert Ross with Lee Radziwill, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, Gene Saks, Paul Simon, Joan Rivers, Hume Cronyn, Tom Brokaw, Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas, Norman Mailer, William Goldman, Regis Philbin, Gay Talese, Elie Wiesel, Anne Bass and Richard Feigen, Kimberly and Steven Rockefeller, Claudia and Ron Perelman, Ivana Trump, Blaine and Robert Trump, Yasmin Aga Khan, Kelly and Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Nan Kempner.

Dress Code: Business attire. A few people were even spotted toting briefcases. Fran Liebowitz showed up with a gray three-piece peaked lapel man’s suit.

Chow: A late supper of meats, cold pasta and finger sandwiches. Dessert lovers panicked at the absence of sweets.

Noted: Some differences between West Coast and East Coast premieres: L.A. goes for glitzy decor, whereas the New Yorkers wisely realize that the Grand Hall at the Met is setting enough. Hollywood cheek kisses somehow miss the cheek by a good inch, while Manhattanites connect with a resounding smack. Most significantly, L.A. parties offer dozens of non-alcoholic alternatives at the bar, while the New Yorkers tend bar from behind an impressive array of premium hard liquors--but no juices of any kind.

Quoted: Barry Levinson, talking about the new Baltimore: “It’s on the upswing, moving into the 21st Century. But they’ve destroyed a lot of the character of the city.”

Ivana Trump Watch: Trump was indeed there, wearing a skyscraper of blond locks atop her head and receiving most of the photographers’ attention. New York had been buzzing that day with the news that Ivana had signed a deal with the William Morris Agency and was about to embark upon a career as a novelist.