Jane Fonda draws a crowd at the Ahmanson

Jane Fonda blogged on Tuesday that tonight's opening performance of 33 Variations at the Ahmanson Theatre would be attended by Cher, Colin Farrell, Angelica Huston, Chelsea Handler, Rosanna Arquette, Carla Gugino, Christian Slater, Peter Fonda, John Glover, Ben Vereen, Lindsay Lohan "and many other friends and family." She was right. I didn't see Lohan, but my designated celebrity spotter did spot the others and more, including Fonda's son Troy Garrity, the widow of her father Henry Fonda, and Penny Marshall. The play has been in previews for a week, and just before tonight's curtain Fonda tweeted:

We open '33 Variations' in 15 min. I am excited. Lots of friends out there. Lots of love.

She received enthusiastic ovations at the start and finish. Fonda had picked up a Tony nomination for her earlier Broadway portrayal of musicologist Katherine Brandt. Samantha Mathis, Zach Grenier (as Beethoven, also a Tony nominee), Don Amendolia, Susan Kellerman and pianist Diane Walsh also return from the Broadway cast. Writer-director Moises Kaufman's play received five Tony nominations in all, including for Best Play.

Media night: For opening night I counted at least six Los Angeles Times editors and staff writers, several freelancers or ex-Times writers and Los Angeles Magazine editor Mary Melton.

Add Fonda: She appears at LACMA Feb. 14 for a discussion with Kenneth Turan of the Times, followed by a screening of "Klute."

Photo of Fonda and Mathis, by Greg Schwartz/Center Theatre Grouo