The Long Wharf in Sag Harbor was bustling with vaunted foot traffic Saturday evening, as socialites and celebrities from Long Island and beyond gathered for a gala to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Bay Street Theater.

Tony winning actor BD Wong led a star-studded night of ceremony that included appearances by Alec Baldwin, Jason Alexander, and Richard Kind. The crowd honored theater patrons Jerry and Adrienne Cohen, as well as founding supporter Patrick Malloy III and Bay Street’s founders, Stephen Hamilton and Emma Walton-Hamilton.

Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas outside Bay Street Theater prior to the awards ceremony. Photo by Michael Adams.

Founded by the Hamiltons and the late Sybil Christopher in 1991, the theater sits across from a replica of an eighteenth-century windmill, dedicated in memory of Nobel laureate John Steinbeck, who lived in Sag Harbor during the twilight of his life. The location has previously been used for a munitions factory, a roller rink, and a nightclub. Bay Street Theater has been called “one of the country’s pre-eminent regional theatres” by CBS Sunday Morning, and has debuted productions that have made their way to Broadway and Off-Broadway.

Richard Hamilton and Emma Walton-Hamilton posing with their award outside the gala. Photo by Michael Adams.

The theater has seen a wide variety of performances over the course of its quarter-century lifespan, from stand-up comedy to plays and musicals, even a fair amount of puppet shows. Productions at Bay Street have featured the likes of SNL alum Darrell Hammond, Academy Award nominees Alan Alda, Roy Scheider, Alec Baldwin, and Academy Award winner Mercedes Ruehl.

The theater’s 25^th anniversary consisted of an awards ceremony hosted on the main stage of the building itself, followed by a dinner and a celebrity-led fundraiser auction held inside an ornate canopy tent at the end of the Long Wharf. A small army of volunteers helped to keep the operation running smoothly while New York’s wealthy—who paid anywhere from $260 to $1,250 for a seat—drank champagne and made idle small talk. Cheri Wicks, a volunteer at the Gala who has on occasion acted in the theater’s stage productions, spoke about the role Bay Street has played in the community since it first opened up shop.

“I think it’s an important opportunity for the community to be able to see live performances,” Wicks said, “whether it’s theater or comedy or music. It’s an opportunity for the kids to participate in the activities that go on here, which also brings families to the theater. So it represents, I think, a core of community in Sag Harbor.”

The overcast skies did nothing to dampen the mood of the attendees, many of whom were brand names in the worlds of theater and media. After the conclusion of the awards ceremony, the rich and powerful bumped elbows before the press was told to make themselves sparse. Richard Kind, who served as an auctioneer for the gala, and Steve Kroft, of 60 Minutes, told jokes with their friends while perusing the items up for sale later. The likes of Alec Baldwin and Harris Yulin asked the Hamiltons how their children were doing in school. The whole affair was gilded in grace and sophistication, and felt like an echo of something out of the Jazz Age, or an F.Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Bay Street Theater Gala Dinner, Interior . Photo by Michael Adams

For the Hamilton’s, the success of Bay Street Theater still feels like something out of a screenplay. “When we first started, it was like we were lucky to get through the next week,” said Steve Hamilton, after which Emma Walton-Hamilton clarified “it was hard to get beyond the day. It’s amazing, and yet it has flourished.”

On the legacy of the theater and its impact on Long Island, Emma touched on the sense of community between theatergoers. “The thing about a theater,” she said, “is that it is a unique gathering place, where people from all walks of life can gather together under one roof and have a shared experience. It provides a unique opportunity for those people to experience something together, to commune, to connect, to think or see something a little differently. There are very few places like that, there are churches and there are theaters, and that’s about it.”

On the same subject, Steve touched on what the theater meant to people following the events of September 11^th. “It brings to mind the story about the play that opened under our leadership on September 12^th, 2001. People would come out and thank us for what we were doing, for providing the community an opportunity to laugh and gather.” His wife called it “the unifying gift of theater.”

Jason Alexander and Jules Feiffer posing with an easel inside Bay Street Theater. Photo by Lenny Stucker 

What began twenty-five years ago with a far-fetched dream of a successful theater has grown and morphed into a staple of the world of the stage, a true pillar of the Long Island community. Through all of it, in the midst of a gala of A-list celebrities and patrician benefactors, the Hamiltons have somehow managed to stay humble, never forgetting the work it took to bring this dream of theirs to life.

As Bay Street Theater enters its second quarter-century of existence, the surrounding community and theater-lovers everywhere will no doubt look forward to the productions that will come to life on the stage at the end of Sag Harbor. They will laugh, they will cry, and just maybe be lucky enough to witness the birth of a legend for themselves.