Isabelle Huppert, Isabella Rossellini, and FIAF Honor Robert Wilson at the Plaza

During her speech at the French Institute Alliance Françoise's Annual Gala honoring avant-garde playwright and director Robert Wilson, actress Isabelle Huppert, Wilson muse and star of his upcoming production of Quartett at BAM, credited him with helping her become a more confident performer: "I thought I was invisible," she said, "but Bob sees the invisible." Ms. Huppert, who presented Wilson with the Trophée des Artes, was joined at the Plaza Hotel last night by guests including Isabella Rossellini, Elle creative director Joe Zee, and lady about town Tinsley Mortimer, who was there filming scenes for her upcoming CW reality show. The crew, who descended on Huppert while she was introduced to Mortimer, were eventually banished to an upstairs lobby as guests sat down to dinner. Wilson said that he couldn't have developed the unique vision Huppert noted had he not received the support he did in France -- specifically for his four-hour 1971 silent play, Deafman Glance. During its Paris premiere, Wilson said he left the theater 30 minutes before the production ended because he couldn't bear enduring an inevitably negative reception: "the French are so verbal," he explained. Wilson said, however, said he was astonished when a friend summoned him from his hotel room to return to the theater, where he was being given a standing ovation.

Photo from Patrick McMullan