![Photographed by Hannah Thomson](http://www.vogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12/HOLDING-300x214.jpg)
It was a classic New York City night when entertainment luminaries came together to celebrate Saturday Night Live creator and longtime producer Lorne Michaels at the American Songbook gala. Of course, other industries were represented: Former mayor and will-he-or-won’t-he presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg mingled with Anna Wintour, clad in Gucci. Diane von Furstenberg eschewed the early Fashion Week festivities downtown for the event: “I love Lorne and watch SNL absolutely religiously,” she demurred.
Michaels, who, as former SNL cast member Martin Short put it, “launched more comedy careers than bad parenting,” was being honored for his tastemaking contribution to the canon of American musical history. (Memorable SNL performances include acts from a young Simon & Garfunkel to an incendiary Sinead O’Connor, Kanye West to the Blues Brothers, Patti Smith to Nicki Minaj—a long and storied list.)
Guests mixed in the lobby of Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, noshing on hors d’oeuvres—butternut squash pizza and soppressata-gouda bites—before being treated to a comedy-cum-musical performance penned by husband-and-wife team Jeff Richmond and the immaculate Tina Fey. Unsurprisingly, there was no shortage of immense talent on display: Steve Martin delivered a stomach-tangling hilarious monologue; Jimmy Fallon performed R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)” in a barbershop quartet; and Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” got the Maya Rudolph treatment.
The crowd went particularly wild when a debonair Tracy Morgan was joined onstage by his 30 Rock costar Jane Krakowski for a sultry duet. Current SNL cast members Kate McKinnon (taking a break from her epic Hillary Clinton impressions), Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, and Taran Killam got to show off their singing chops. And the theater world paid homage, as well: Six-time Tony winner and Broadway legend Audra McDonald sang “Make Someone Happy” from the 1960 musical Do Re Mi, and Cheyenne Jackson heated the stage with Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.”
A buffet dinner was on offer as partygoers regrouped after the stunning show. And with $2.1 million raised this night for Lincoln Center, Michaels’s rare gift for showcasing and perpetuating talent lives on in a new way.
The post Tina Fey, Michael Bloomberg, Anna Wintour, and Tracy Morgan Honor SNL’s Lorne Michaels at the American Songbook Gala appeared first on Vogue.