Woody and Politics

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/27/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Last night's Broadway opening of "Gore Vidal's The Best Man" nearly rivaled the Democratic Convention when it came to star power. Among those in the crowd: Rosie O'Donnell, Regis Philbin, Peter Jennings, Walter Cronkite, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Woody Allen with his wife, Soon-Yi. Allen, known as bit of a recluse -- he rarely attends the openings of his own movies -- told PEOPLE.com, "I'm here because I'm such an enormous fan of Gore Vidal's writing. He speaks the truth." While critics weren't entirely enthusiastic about the revival production of the 1962 satire about backroom maneuvering during a presidential convention, Allen called the relevance of the show, which stars Charles Durning, Spalding Gray and Chris Noth, "amazing." He also said that today he starts shooting his latest film, "starring Helen Hunt, Charlize Theron and myself." Of the success of his last one, "Small Time Crooks," he said, "I was lucky to have been working with two geniuses, Tracey Ullman and Elaine May." The latter happened to be at "The Best Man" too, sitting three rows in back of Woody.