Things weren’t exactly going to plan at last night’s post-screening dinner at the Plaza Athénée for Woody Allen’s newest film, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” about two American women sowing some wild oats in the Spanish city. Since neither the director, Vicky (Rebecca Hall), or Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) were in attendance, all the responsibility fell on the delicate yet robust shoulders of one Penélope Cruz, another of the film’s stars. There were seating issues—Eddie Vedder was late but heaven forbid anyone meander near his empty table, Russell Simmons arrived with six friends—and when one guest asked for a Diet Coke instead of the sponsored sherry to go with her dinner, the waiter’s response was a curt “Give me your credit card immediately” (the tally to keep the DC flowing for the guest and some pals at dinner came to three figures). But then in walked the sultry “Pené”—pronounced like the noodle, which is apparently one way Ms. Cruz’s friends refer to her. “I would pay for all the Diet Coke in the world to sit next to her,” a guest sighed. (That honor went to Harvey Weinstein and to the man Weinstein called his hero earlier in the evening, Javier Bardem.) Cruz sauntered in wearing a black cocktail dress and a blazer, having politely declined the many gowns she was offered. “I’m too tired,” she told Tara Subkoff. “This is my third day of press, and I could just not do a big dress.” As the plates and empty bottles of expensive soda were cleared away (you don’t want to know what wine cost a dinner guest), however, things slowly got back to normal. Vedder and Bardem doodled on postcards together; Russell Simmons began an animated conversation with Ann Dexter-Jones and Lola Schnabel, both of whom put on their favorite red frocks for the night; Anthony Kiedis and Cruz shared a table and talked about summer plans. Open bar or not, all was well in celebrity-ville by 1 a.m.—Derek Blasberg

Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

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