Rufus Wainwright performing last night.Photo: Getty Images
Mother Earth apparently loves $600 throw pillows. How else to explain the Sundance Channel’s decision to host the after-party for the premiere of the Green, its enviro-friendly programming block, at ABC Carpet & Home, the pricey boho-chic home-furnishing-and- tchotchke emporium? The store proudly touts its recycled, sustainable, and rainforest-friendly headboards, couches, and candles, but, still, the feng shui of the event, held on a second floor already crammed with Nakashima coffee tables and Eames chairs, felt toxic.
Chugging green-tea-tinis (green thumbs up!), mojitos, and organic wine, the faux-boho crowd included a tiny smattering of celebs like Isabella Rossellini, Shalom Harlow, Moby, Carson Kressley, and Rufus Wainwright. The Canadian troubadour’s lovely four-song set was the non sequitor highlight of the evening, even though the gabbing guests chatted throughout. “Can you guys in the back please be quiet for one last song?” he asked. In fact, noise pollution was the true scourge of the evening. During a ten-minute presentation about Important Ecology Stuff (we forget what exactly: Priuses? hemp clothing? the Arctic? logging? fossil fuels?), Larry Aidern, the Sundance Channel CEO, finally told the partiers, most of whom didn’t catch the actual screening, to “shut the fuck up.” Love your planet, indeed. —Justin Ravitz
