All the Young Dudes

A Hollywood party or the Gymboree? It’s hard to tell these days, as the median attendee age continues to drop. At the Sept. 29 soiree for The House of Yes, the watchdog checking IDs at the entrance to L.A.’s Palace gave admittance to a bevy of under-30 players, including House stars Tori Spelling and Parker Posey, Scream 2‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar (a.k.a. Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Jamie Kennedy, and Jerry O’Connell, as well as Reese Witherspoon and Gen-X staple Claire Danes. ”Do I feel really old?” asked grown-up Nathan Lane, who was surrounded by martini-sipping twentysomethings and waitresses serving cookies. ”All I know is that we’re in a disco and everyone’s wearing ’70s clothing. I feel like I’ve gone through a time machine.” A week later, on the East Coast, the youth movement continued at the Oct. 3 party for Danny Boyle’s dark comedy A Life Less Ordinary. Stars Cameron Diaz (with main squeeze Matt Dillon) and Ewan McGregor (with wife Eve) partied at Manhattan’s Balthazar with friends Liev Schrieber, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Ed Burns. While the party’s hostess — Vogue editor Anna Wintour — held quiet court inside the downtown bistro, the kids turned the outside tent into a veritable mosh pit. ”It’s totally crowded out here,” marveled Schrieber. ”Somebody famous came out here, and then everybody came out here. Now there’s nobody famous in there.” Sorry, Anna.

— Anna Holmes and Tricia Laine