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Kleenexes in hand, celebs at L.A.'s Bruin Theatre for the Oct. 12 premiere of Disney's emotionally wrenching Beloved prepared for ophthalmic downpours. ''I'm a little nervous, I don't want to cry,'' said Roseanne before the film. Tim Allen had his weeping excuse ready: ''I'll blame it on the air conditioner.'' After the screening, the party at the Armand Hammer Museum provided relief, with the soothing soundtrack thrumming in the background and a comfort-food buffet, including fried green tomatoes, to nosh on. Four days earlier, the East Coast party for Beloved at the New York Hilton had similar highlights, with guests -- including the film's stars Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandie Newton, along with Sean ''Puffy'' Combs and Michael Bolton -- decompressing in a ballroom lined with stills from the film. But the glitterati took a backseat to Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, who was descended upon by admirers like Uma Thurman. The main difference between the fetes? That California attitude. Said Winfrey in L.A.: ''I'm so much more relaxed tonight. Like, 15 degrees more.''


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Posted Oct 23, 1998 | Published in issue #455 Oct 23, 1998 | Order Article Reprints