Chance the Rapper, Cynthia Erivo Join UTA for Pre-Met Gala Celebration

On Sunday night, Met Gala anticipation reached a fever pitch. The pre-parties had been going for several days at that point, and prep for the main event loomed in the morning. With a long day ahead for many on its talent roster, UTA got the party started early — 7 p.m. — for its celebratory Sunday Soirée cocktail party. The pre-Met gathering was hosted at Nubeluz by José Andrés at The Ritz-Carlton New York for the second year in a row.

Regé-Jean Page was chatting with a group next to the crowded bar, while party cohost Rashid Johnson and wife Sheree Hovsepian lounged in a booth next to the venue’s floor-to-ceiling windows, which offered expansive misty views of the midtown New York skyline. Diptyque Mimosa candles scented the room as guests made the rounds, Johnnie Walker Blue cocktails in hand.

Other guests stopping by throughout the evening included “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo, designer Grace Wales Bonner — who hosted her own pre-Met Gala celebration at the Guggenheim the night before, and cohosted the UTA party along with Johnson and Tyler Mitchell — Monica Barbaro, Myha’la, Bloody Osiris, Ella Emhoff, Aurora James and Chance the Rapper, wearing his signature bucket hat.

UTA offered guests a sweet parting gesture on their way out: a candy bar, including a cookie printed with the Met museum’s logo — lest anyone forget what it was all for.