What a night in Tribeca this past Wednesday for Trudie Styler and husband Sting. Styler and producing partner Celine Rattray celebrated their fifth anniversary as Maven Pictures with a swellegant dinner party at Tutto il Giorno in Tribeca. What a snazzy spot owned by Donna Karan’s daughter Gabby– a tony branch of her hit Southampton eatery.
I was lucky enough to be seated at a hot table: Meg Ryan (who I like so much) surrounded by Matthew Modine, director Paul Haggis, and famed British actor Richard E. Grant.
Just sitting behind us was Debbie Harry, who told me she’s off to Milwaukee today with Blondie to resume their tour. They have a new album coming out soon.
But Milwaukee? Think that’s glamorous? Well Sting and Peter Gabriel are headed to Columbus, Ohio today to rehearse their tour. They launch in Columbus on June 21st.
Elsewhere in the room I ran into “Pleasantville” director Gary Ross (he also wrote “Dave” and “Big” and has “Free State of Jones” out shortly), actress Zuleikha Robinson, director Ryan Fleck. the great Chazz Palminteri, Marisa Tomei, and so on. I was very happy to see Matthew Modine, who was a lifelong New Yorker until business took him out west. He says wife Cari “loves” Los Angeles, but swears they’ll move back to Greenwich Village one day.
Also at Tutto for the big event: CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield, still getting over the huge response to her reading of the letter from the Stanford rape victim. Banfield has been getting kudos and she should: she’s one of CNN’s greatest assets.
Trudie and Celine greeted their guests formally and thanked them for all their help. Maven will release “American Honey” this year, the big hit from Cannes, and Styler has just finished “Freak Show,” which stars Abigail Breslin (also there last night).
Then Styler said, “Here’s my boyfriend,” and Sting took the stage with his group of young musicians called The Last Bandoleros. They helped Sting turn out bravura versions of “Next to You,” “Message in a Bottle,” and “Every Breath You Take.” Los Caballeros are from San Antonio, where they admitted to once playing in a Police cover band called La Policia. Sting, “We played in San Antonio when we first started out.” He paused. “But none of you look like me,” he joked.
