Mario Cantone hosts Bay Street Theatre benefit

The dock was truly rockin' as dusk fell on Sag Harbor last Saturday. Drumming sensation Escola de Samba greeted notable guests like Luann de Lesseps, Blythe Danner and Star Jones with shaking tambourines and wildly flapping belly dancers.

Upon entering the spacious tent, which sprawled the Long Wharf, guests were invited to bid on items like a five-night stay in a private luxury home in New Orleans during Jazz Fest or a diamond platinum pendant from Tiffany & Co.

Mario Cantone, of "Sex and the City" fame (seen here with actor Richard Kind), hosted the sold-out evening. And it was all to benefit Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor's exceptional theatre venue that will be featuring a play by David Mamet, among others, this summer.

Bay Street relies on donations to keep programs like Summer Mainstage, Comedy Club, and Literature Live (bringing theatre to East End students), afloat. "I love this theatre," says Christine Wachter-Campbell, one of the organizers of the event. "Bay Street has amazing artistic directors ... The arts are fuel for the soul."