“I am so proud to have made my life here, to have found such love here and to have found my livelihood here,” Rachel Zegler mentioned in entrance of the crowd at Variety‘s New York Party, introduced by Film AlUla, Sunday night time.
New York’s leisure trade energy gamers gathered at Saint Theo’s, the Italian restaurant in the West Village, to lift a toast to Zegler and the 2024 class from the New Power of New York List in Variety‘s annual New York issue. This year’s cowl options Zegler, who's making her Broadway debut enjoying Juliet in “Romeo + Juliet,” a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless romantic tragedy.
At the celebration, the “West Side Story” star made touching remarks about her father, who, when she was rising up, would commute from their house in Clifton, N.J., to Manhattan for his job in business building.
“From middle school into my high school years, he worked on what was his favorite job, which was building the New World Trade Center. He then moved on to the new wing of the Javits Center and is now finishing up the final touches on 2 Penn Plaza,” Zegler mentioned. “For 23 years, which is a long time though a short life so far, I have watched my dad pick up the most magical paintbrush and create the city I love most in the world. It is a city I could never truly leave because my dad literally built it.”
Several “Romeo + Juliet” forged members attended the occasion, together with “Heartstopper” breakout Kit Connor, who's making his Broadway debut as Romeo. Zegler’s boyfriend and “West Side Story” co-star, Josh Andrés Rivera, was additionally there to have fun this 12 months’s cowl star. Towards the finish of the night, Rivera held a stack of Variety‘s New York points in his hand whereas chatting with fellow attendees.
The night was kicked off by Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, who mentioned, “While we love going to Los Angeles, we truly, truly love New York, and so our New York issue celebrates all of you.”
Setoodeh acknowledged these on the New Power of New York record — together with “SNL” star Heidi Gardner, “Sherri” govt producer Jawn Murray and “The View” govt producer Brian Teta — in addition to different visitors at the intimate gathering.
“Sherri Shepherd is here, everyone,” Setoodeh instructed the crowd, to which the discuss present host replied with fun, “I’m very excited to be here!”
Other notable attendees included “The Daily Show” correspondents Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta and Jordan Klepper; “I Saw the TV Glow” filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun; “The Five” co-host Jessica Tarlov; “Giggly Squad” host Hannah Berner; actor Brandon Flynn and many extra.