The setting is elegant, the food divine and the swag impressive. But really, it’s the hobnobbing that makes the Evening Before party the can’t-miss affair of the pre-Emmy social swirl.
The fifth annual event, raising $1.5 million for the Motion Picture and Television Fund, drew its usually eclectic guest list of execs, talent, tenpercenters and other bizzers on Saturday to the Lawn at Century Park.
Presenting sponsors Target, HP, People and Revlon kept partygoers entertained with booths featuring games and giveaways (Target’s Missoni collection freebies were a major hit). But the most fun at this pentagon-shaped outdoor party space was watching for interesting couplings — such as Jim Parsons giving Edie Falco a bear hug as she arrived, or Margo Martindale in an animated conversation with Leslie Bibb, or J.J. Abrams and Conan O’Brien sharing deep thoughts, or Eric Stonestreet and John Stamos having a laugh.
But even in this high-powered group, there were outbreaks of fandemonium. “OK, you’re awesome,” a woman gushed to Aziz Ansari as the “Parks and Recreation” star made his way through the crowd. “Big Bang Theory” exec producer Bill Prady confessed to a “total fanboy moment” as he and “Big Bang” trouper Kunal Nayyar waited outside the men’s room for the chance to shake hands with “Game of Thrones” thesp Jon Snow.
