Academy Awards – March 23, 2003

My cousin, Joan C. Gratz, is a world famous animator and artist. She is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and 1993 Oscar™ winner for best animated short subject, “Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase.” (She’s been nominated a total of 4 times as an individual or with other animators). As an Academy member she could get tickets to the Oscars any year. (People off the street can’t get tickets – you have to be an Academy member just to apply for the ticket lottery.) For years I had been begging her to let me take her to the Oscars, I would pay for her plane ticket (she lives in Portland, Oregon), the Oscar tickets, her dress, etc. – in other words, everything. Finally this year she caved in, applied for tickets, and won the lottery.

We drove there in my mother’s classic 1975 Mercury Cougar. We arrived early, ran into virtually no traffic, and the pro-war and anti-war demonstrators kept to the sidewalks, so we had no trouble at all getting to the Kodak Theatre. The news media had said that there would be no Red Carpet this year, but as soon as we got out of the car, we were walking on a carpet that was red in color – go figure. Walking into the Kodak Theatre, I don’t think I’ve every seen so many cut fresh flowers in one place in my life. Yes, there was tight security and we had to go through metal detectors, but once inside the theatre was (I thought, at least) tasteful, elegant and understated. There were free drinks and hors d’oeuvres; the drinks were plentiful and varied, the hors d’oeuvres too sparse to satisfy even a runway model’s appetite. The architecture of the theatre itself is a very interesting mix of a traditional opera house like La Scala and a modern, high-tech concert hall. The acoustics were perfect. We were in the 3^rd Mezzanine, the highest level, about a third of the way up in that level. We were looking what seemed like almost directly down on the stage, but the view was still pretty good.

Almost all the men wore traditional black tie. According to Oscar regulars, the women dressed much more casually than is usual for the Oscars. Well, if this was casual dress, I’d really like to see what formal dress is like… I did notice that most women were wearing black or muted colors and plain, slim-fitting styles; very few women were wearing bright colors or outfits with poofy skirts or sleeves. Lace was relatively common, however.

I didn’t see any celebrities, but that wasn’t what I was there for – I was there for the experience. Besides, there are very few celebrities that I would recognize, and those few big name celebrities would be surrounded by their handlers and by every wannabe actor, writer or director.

It was great fun. We were at the theatre for 6 hours but the time flew by; it was never boring either in the lobby before the show or during the show itself. It’s like the difference between watching the Dodgers’ game on TV or being at Dodger Stadium. Yes, you can see the game better on TV, but you can’t experience the festive spirit of the event or absorb crowd reaction by watching it on TV. I just wish they had Dodger Dogs at the Kodak Theatre…

I thought the show itself was really well done. Steve Martin’s opening monologue was short, witty and delivered well. He kept a surprisingly low profile during the rest of the program, but that kept things moving along. Also, by having only one presenter for each award, there wasn’t any of the tedious and not-really-funny banter between the stars that really slows things down. The legendary actress Olivia DeHaviland and actor Peter O’Toole were really class acts. I was also surprised at the number of big-name musicians that appeared on stage – like U2, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand (the last, though, not in a singing role). And then there was that assemblage of 59 Oscar-winning actors. I was amazed at how good some of the old timers looked…

I had read that the show was supposed to run not longer than 3.5 hours, and sure enough it started right on time at 5:30 pm and ended at 9:00 pm to the minute.

My only regret was that you weren’t allowed bring cameras inside (and the security folks searched you just to make sure) so I don’t have any pictures of the entrance to the theatre or inside the theatre itself.

I had always thought this would be a once in a lifetime, been-there-done-that type of affair, but now that I’ve done it once, I’m ready to go again next year – or next week. I just have to figure out how to become an Academy member…