“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 said in front of the crowd at Variety‘s New York Party, presented by Film AlUla, Sunday night.
New York’s entertainment industry power players gathered at Saint Theo’s, the Italian restaurant in the West Village, to raise 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 cover features Zegler, who is making her Broadway debut playing Juliet in “Romeo + Juliet,” a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless romantic tragedy.
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At the celebration, the “West Side Story” star made touching remarks about her father, who, when she was growing up, would commute from their home in Clifton, N.J., to Manhattan for his job in commercial construction.
“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 said. “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” cast members attended the event, including “Heartstopper” breakout Kit Connor, who is making his Broadway debut as Romeo. Zegler’s boyfriend and “West Side Story” co-star, Josh Andrés Rivera, was also there to celebrate this year’s cover star. Towards the end of the evening, Rivera held a stack of Variety‘s New York issues in his hand while chatting with fellow attendees.
The festivity was kicked off by Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh, who said, “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 those on the New Power of New York list — including “SNL” star Heidi Gardner, “Sherri” executive producer Jawn Murray and “The View” executive producer Brian Teta — as well as other guests at the intimate gathering.
“Sherri Shepherd is here, everyone,” Setoodeh told the crowd, to which the talk show host replied with a laugh, “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 more.