If Renee can pull it off, so can Miss Piggy. The porcine celebrity famous for her blond tresses is now a brunette, a change she made for her latest role as Dorothy in “The Muppets “Wizard of Oz,” which had its premiere Wednesday night at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Another brunette in town for the festival was Julianna Margulies, who attended the premiere of “Yes” along with the fairer Fisher Stevens and the film’s stars, Joan Allen and Simon Abkarian. Sally Potter directed.

Adding some intellectual gravity to the mix was the editor of Harper’s magazine, the dapper Lewis Lapham. In his expensive suit, he looked like the only person who belonged at the party, held on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, for the film “The American Ruling Class.”

The festival also offered an event for aspiring female filmmakers, including Alex Stapleton, Lisa Leone, Isabel Vega, Georgia Lee, Mia Rivington, and Debby Wolfe.

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Music plays an important part in setting the tone and mood for a film, so the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers held a music lounge for Tribeca Film Festival VIPs. The first session Wednesday at the Knitting Factory showcased an established talent, Suzanne Vega, as well as an emerging star, Ben Jelen, whose first album, “Give It All Away,” came out last spring. Mr. Jelen, who wrote a bit of music for a BBC documentary, hopes to write more for film.

“It’s such an interesting way of getting music out there. Some of my favorite classical music is film music,” Mr. Jelen said, citing the soundtrack for “Braveheart.”

Mr. Jelen moved to the Upper West Side, near the Columbia campus, two years ago. New York has changed the sound of his music.

“Before I came here, my music was very personal, melodic, very slow, very romantic,” he explained. And now? “Since living here, it’s kind of been like, ‘Let’s rock! Let’s be loud and scream a little louder, and thrash on the guitars a little more.’ I’m keen on playing some faster, upbeat stuff.”

Mr. Jelen’s city lifestyle includes rollerblading and seeing shows at all the city’s “cool venues.”

“I saw Joan Jett play over in Brooklyn, and I go to see friends play sometimes,” he said. “Sometimes I’m pressed for time, but when you get those spare weeks, you can go out and see such great stuff and recharge your batteries.”

Has finding romance been difficult? Not for this cutie. Mr. Yelen’s heart belongs to a model, Fern, who is saving up money to go to nursing school.

“We met in the city, kind of through random people and friends,” he said. “We saw each other a few times, being out at different venues, and just started dating.”

Mr. Jelen plays the final session of the Ascap music lounge this afternoon, along with Nic Armstrong and the Thieves, Paul Buchanan, and Shawn Colvin.

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Friends of the Henry Street Settlement teamed up with Tumi to stage a cocktail party Wednesday night for the city’s prettiest handbag-toters. The ladies checked out Tumi’s new boutique at 102 Prince Street as well as Tumi’s new women’s collection. The party lured guests with free Tumi carry-alls – and the satisfaction of knowing that 20% of their sales went to the settlement.