Woodward, Bernstein & A-List Cast Reading Come to Guild Hall

Robert Downey Jr., is taking selfies with the Happy Coffee Company guy and making him extra happy. Ali Wentworth and Julianne Moore wave but are being shuffled quickly off the red carpet. Bill O’Reilly is barking. It’s an A-List night at Guild Hall. “Is Gwyneth coming by?” another reporter asks the publicity team. “We’re not sure.” (She didn’t.)

The real stars of the night, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein arrived early and happily posed for the assembled press. Roughly 50 years after All The Presidents Men premiered, they were the news on this night.

“When this all really happened, we were just kids,” Woodward says. “28 and 29” Bernstein said, still finishing each others’ sentences. “The story still resonates today,” Bernstein adds.

“I got into journalism because of them, what they were doing,” O’Reilly says. At the Q & A afterwards will O’Reilly raise his hand? “I’m not smart enough to ask them a question, McCuddy. You know that,” he says with a big laugh.

Seats that started at $1,000 inside were filling up quickly. Wolf Blitzer blitzed by. Gwyneth’s proud mom Blythe Danner was right behind him.

Downey Jr., plays Woodward in the reading and said, “How great is it to honor Woodward and Bernstein? And how about (screenwriter) Bill Goldman? What a great script that they made a great movie out of.” A longer movie than the stage reading somehow, by almost 30 minutes. Maybe Redford and Hoffman paused more.

That script brought 21 actors, directors and writers to the stage for a fundraising effort trying to save a Presbyterian church in Manhattan that’s been a performing center for many of the attendees. It’s called The Center at West Park on Amsterdam at 86th. Wendell Pierce lives part of the year in the same neighborhood. “The role of art is to be a communal voice. And All The Presidents Men reminds us we have to hold ourselves and those who we ask to lead, accountable.”

Victor Garber was Deep Throat. (Shouldn’t he have been off stage?) He revisited the film before taking the part. “I forgot how brilliant it was. But it’s terrifying how well it holds up.”

Nathan Lane wasn’t surprised so many famous faces showed up onstage and in the audience. “The arts are constantly in peril. If this is what it takes, then this is what we’ll do.”

Andy Cohen played lawyer Donald Segretti. “We’re raising money for a good cause. And when you hear these words on stage and think about what’s going on today with journalism and politics, it resonates quite well.”

Playwright and filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan says the arts bring “$3 billion a year into New York.” He wouldn’t say who was messing up lines in the rehearsal. Narrator Alec Baldwin took liberties with the pronunciation of “BernSTEEN” and “BernSTEIN,” but Carl, sitting in the front row, didn’t seem to mind.

Others in the top-notch ensemble included Talia Balsam, Spencer Garrett, J. Smith Cameron and comedian Ramy Youssef who was a convincing Bernstein. Some, like Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow were only in one scene. Others like Wentworth, played multiple parts. And she changed her hair slightly for each one. Acting! Veteran John Benjamin Hickey directed.

After the performance Baldwin introduced Woodward and Bernstein to a huge ovation. The pair revealed that the original book was only written after a big advance from a publisher and a visit to Naples, Florida where the pair holed up. “Carl sat by the pool and typed wearing the worst looking green bathing suit,” Woodward offered. Bernstein, caught off guard, roared in agreement.

Baldwin wants to know, “Who’s worse? Trump or Nixon?” Woodward says he has the Nixon tapes on cassette and listens to them. It got a laugh in the room but I think he was serious. He then quotes the fallen president. “He told Haldeman, ‘Remember, we’re going to be around to outlive our enemies. And never forget, the press is the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it.”

I don’t know about everyone else in Guild Hall but I had some hair standing on the back of my neck.

Then, Mark Ruffalo, who helped organize the evening, talked about the importance of places like The Center at West Park. Before the show, he noted, “It has been a landmark for progressive and humanitarian causes. From the Civil Right movement to the end of nuclear weapons to gay marriage. It has cultural significance for people of all ages. We’ve raised over $3 million dollars. But they want to tear it down and build a 20-story piece of sh_t!”

Ruffalo’s impassioned comments at the show prompted Downey Jr. to tell the crowd, “I go wherever he (Ruffalo) tells me to go. I hear everyone talking about politics here, but I’m here because of my friend.”

Then the swells went to a lovely after party in the Guild Hall garden. Some donated up to $10,000 to attend. I didn’t. So I drove home thinking about a night of history onstage in East Hampton.

Bill McCuddy is a frequent Dan’s contributor. He’s a professional stand-up comedian “sometimes” he says. “I’ve been on Conan three times if you count reruns.” He also hosts a monthly radio program on WLIW-FM and a weekly summer LTV show “Weekend Live: The Hamptons Now” with Patrick McLaughlin. He would write more but he’s winded.