Alicia Silverstone

This look feels SO familiar to me. Am I just thinking of this moment, or did someone else wear this? She was at the Tonys because she was, at the time, appearing in a play version of The Graduate, with Jason Biggs as Dustin Hoffman and Kathleen Turner as Mrs Robinson.

Jason Biggs

Which also explains this! (I do NOT know why he looks so consumptive here.) (None of them were nominated for anything.)

Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis

Hello, old friends! Cynthia Nixon's hair seems VERY complicated and I wouldn't be surprised if either of them were secretly wearing Steve Madden slides, but Charlotte looks generally timeless here. (We are at one, if you're counting People Who've Been on The Gilded Age.) Cynthia was, at the time, appearing in an adaptation of The Women, which was JAM PACKED and had costumes by Isaac Mizrahi.

Frances Sternhagen

A Sex and the City reunion, to be sure! (She was nominated for Best Featured Actress.) It is BONKERS to me that Frances Sternhagen is not in The Gilded Age. I know she's 92 and retired but come on! This woman could EASILY be Agnes and Ada's extremely persnickety aunt!

Vanessa L. Williams and Chris O'Donnell

What a hot couple! (They were not dating, and VLW was in fact married to Rick Fox at this point, but a girl can dream.) Vanessa was nominated this year for her role as The Witch in a revival of Into the Woods. (She lost to Sutton Foster.)

Bernadette Peters

Speaking of famous witches in Into The Woods! She and Gregory Hines hosted this year and she, appropriately, looks like she arose glamorously from some very very fancy sheets.

Sutton Foster

In which Sutton Foster bravely demonstrates for us the scourge of the Skinny Brow. Ladies, do not let this come back!

Sheryl Lee Ralph

I'd style this differently but she could definitely wear this again. A patterned formal gown! The greatest.

Jill Goodacre & Harry Connick Jr.

Harry Connick Jr. -- nominated for Best Score, although he lost -- is so SHINY here. Pregnant Jill Goodacre is gorgeous, of course, but also looks like she put her foot down about going Full Gown. She was 24 days away from having their youngest child, Charlotte.

John Leguizamo and Justine Maurer

John Leguizamo was at the time appearing in an autobiographical show of his own writing called Sexaholix... A Love Story, which I'm sure a lot of people talked to his wife here about.

Katie Finneran

This is glam and timeless, which is good because she did win this year. (For Noises Off.) Her Wiki photo is VERY jaunty.

Lea Salonga

This is mildly bridesmaidal, but she still looks more or less adorable here.

Hugh Jackman and Deborra Lee Furness

Come on! Can you not see Hugh Jackman on The Gilded Age? This man can wear a hat! Can you not imagine him seducing young heiresses for their money, then running off on a train to bilk another small town out of money by promising them a marching band? Wait, wrong project. Still!

Gina Gershon

Irritatingly, I don't have full-length photos of a lot of these folks because that's how red carpets went sometimes in 2002. This seems dishy and I assume the rest of it isn't totally bonkers.

Laura Linney

Laura Linney was nominated for her role in The Crucible, which REALLY seems like a play Laura Linney would be in. I have concerns about this whole look but I assume it's not secretly short shorts.

Billy Crudup and Mary Louise Parker

She looks great, honestly, as the outgoing Best Actress winner (in Proof). This famously didn't end very well. (He was nominated for The Elephant Man but lost to Alan Bates.)

Ralph Fiennes

Here's the head of Ralph Fiennes!

Paula Harwood and Peter Gallagher

And here's the heads of Paula Harwood and Peter Gallagher, who are still married! Peter Gallagher does not age at all and is presumably a vampire.

Paul Rudd and Julie Yaeger

(a) Speaking of vampires; (b) still married!; (c) I cannot believe I didn't get the photo of this Clueless reunion!

Marian Seldes

She looks VERY elegant here.

Judy Kaye

2002 is marked by a lot of gowns that feel like, "a little bridesmaid-y maybe but you're not gonna be horrified later" and that's not nothing. (She was nominated for for Mamma Mia, in which she played what I'll call the Julie Walters role, for movie fans. That is so right.)

Laura Benanti

She was nominated for Into the Woods -- she was Cinderella; that casting is also VERY right -- and definitely should not be horrified by this. Having said that, please can we not return to the era of matchy-matchy shoes?

Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve

Christopher Reeve, my heart!

Stanley Tucci

Look at this baby face.

Chita Rivera

What a timeless babe!

Mary Tyler Moore

Ditto, obviously.

Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon

Still married -- since 1994! -- and somehow I did not know these two are an item? What a thrill. To learn I can still be pleased by news.

Jennifer Laura Thompson

This has actually aged VERY well and is quite beautiful. Her team needs to fix the photo on her Wiki!

Savion Glover and Gregory Hines

I wonder what Savion Glover is up to lately.

Anne Heche and Coley Laffoon

I also wondered what Coley Laffoon was up to and he's now a realtor at Rick Hilton's big real estate agency, Hilton & Hyland! Good for him! I'm sure this was a roller coaster relationship for all involved. (She took over for MLP in Proof, which were big shoes to fill, but got good reviews.)

Doris Roberts

I love a feathered neck piece on a woman of a certain age!

Deborah Gibson

YES IT'S DEBBIE GIBSON!

Andrea Martin

I've never said this about Andrea Martin before, but DING DONG! (She was nominated for her role as Aunt Eller in the Oklahoma! revival, which is absolutely great casting.) This woman NEEDS to be on The Gilded Age immediately, also.

Harriet Harris

Andrea lost to the great Harriet Sampson Harris, who looks great here, even with her futuristic eye makeup -- or maybe BECAUSE of it.

Blythe Danner & Bruce Paltrow

I can really see Gwyneth Paltrow in her Dad -- I think she has his eyes. This is such a sweet snap of them. Also, Blythe Danner would be fantastic, floating through Bertha Russell's living room, snootily weighing in on her art.

Calista Flockhart

....I like this. Am I just tired? Is that wrong?

Mary Tyler Moore and Whoopi Goldberg

Then Whoopi showed up in a resplendent caftan and taught me that MTM had a quasi-romper situation happening!

Mercedes Ruehl and Elaine Stritch

The very definition of a big finish!

The 2002 Tony Awards Red Carpet Is Full of Old Friends

Join me on this trip back in time!