The Art of Party Politics
It is, of course, the night to see and be seen, the night to schmooze and be schmoozed. But it is, most of all, the night to wear a tux in L.A.
Blue jeans be damned, Monday is the night for shooting stars to arrive at their pampering destinations--parties celebrating the 68th annual Academy Awards.
“I hate this part because I hate black,” says Vanity Fair Editor in Chief Graydon Carter, presumptive heir to the late Oscar party major-domo, Swifty Lazar. “But it’s the one night you have everyone rolling around the city in something approaching a tuxedo, and I do mean approaching. People get very creative. You get everything from what looks like Jerry Lee Lewis’ wardrobe to the vast elaborate velvet Edwardian get-ups.
“Mix that with a ponytail and you’re talking magic.”
Magic of the sort that party prestidigitator and literary agent Lazar long wielded over the Oscar night party ritual, eventually turning Spago into a temple to fame and gourmet pizza. Since his death in 1993, many parties have jockeyed for position, or at the very least a piece of the celebrity pie.
“There’s definitely more,” says veteran party reporter Bill Higgins. “Everyone and his grandmother has gotten on the Oscar party bandwagon. The entire press from the entire universe shows up in Los Angeles. You go to a movie premiere now, and I think on ‘Ace Ventura [When Nature Calls],’ there were something like 40 film crews from around the world covering a minor movie premiere. With the Oscars, you’ve got even more press.”
That’s not to say that all parties are created equal. Of the spreads put on by magazines, studios, charities and restaurants, one reigns supreme in the eyes of some party experts--Vanity Fair’s. The glossy magazine’s 3-year-old fete at Morton’s attracts an eclectic A-plus list of headline-worthy names from old and new Hollywood as well as points beyond. Expected this year are Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas, Warner Bros. honchos Bob Daly and Terry Semel, and artists Roy Lichtenstein and Julian Schnabel.
“The [party] I feel that’s the most prestigious is Vanity Fair because nobody wants any money from you,” says Hollywood Reporter columnist George Christy. “So Vanity Fair is invitation-only and that gives it great eclat.”
Not invited? Blame it on the fire code. Of course, not to worry if you’re the loftiest sort of celebrity. Your face is your invitation, but it had better be serious paparazzi bait.
Vanity Fair may get the award for the Swifty-est party, to the extent that any get to wear that mantle. “By the end, Swifty’s party was an extension of him and his circle,” Carter says, “and if anybody’s going to take it, you won’t know for 15 years.”
But for sheer Cecil B. De Mille-ness, nothing beats the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s own post-ceremony Governor’s Ball, which is “The Ten Commandments” of Oscar parties in scale. The most geographically desirable dinner, in a tent adjacent to the ceremonies at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the ball ropes in a cast of thousands hungry and weary from a long day of receiving awards--and more often, not receiving them.
The ball, orchestrated for celebs by a celeb, Spago star chef Wolfgang Puck, will feed 1,650 be-tuxed and ball-gowned people with the help of 500 chefs, captains, hors d’oeuvres passers, cocktail servers, entree runners and others from Puck’s team and Restaurant Associates, which does the Music Center’s catering.
This year, while you are gathered ‘round the TV and the chili pot, they’ll be dining on marinated artichokes with white truffle vinaigrette and grilled free-range veal medallion with ginger and orange glaze and stir-fried spring vegetables.
If this year is like last, Puck will be helicoptering between downtown and Spago Central, where Miramax, after being duly coy, finally announced it’s celebrating its 11 nominations. Miramax has been a hot party property since last year’s instant pop classic “Pulp Fiction,” and it plans to stay there with best picture contender “The Postman (Il Postino)” to its credit--even if it means ripping out Spago’s speed bumps to tent the parking lot.
“The two parties will be this and Vanity Fair’s,” says Miramax party spokesman Dick Guttman. “I suggested someone should set up a shuttle between them, but it would be offensive to people only invited to one.”
Oscar etiquette is not an oxymoron.
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Of course, having celebrities pack your buffet line is not all fabulousness. Having headliners in attendance at a charity event lures the press, which in turn attracts next year’s corporate sponsorship. But some charities that use the Oscars for fund-raising prefer familiar faces to make cameo appearances.
“Those that stay expect to be there as your guest,” says Lynn LeMay, event coordinator for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which expects to raise $150,000 at its Raleigh Studios bash for 600. “They do not write checks. They do not pay for their seats. I love celebrities to come, but honestly I’d rather they not come at 7 and stay until 11 if that seat can be occupied by someone who pays $250.”
At another place on the AIDS event spectrum, however, big names attract instant big bucks. Swifty wannabe Elton John attracts not only le creme de Hollywood to his Elton John AIDS Foundation events but also corporate sponsorship of the $1,000-a-plate tab for celebrities chowing down for charity. On the other hand, many of the comped stars show up post-party to the invitation-only event at Maple Drive, and their minions are asked to pay.
“We are bombarded by famous movie stars’ attorneys, famous movie stars’ masseuses saying, ‘Why can’t I be on the guest list?’ ” says spokeswoman Sarah McMullen. “It is unbelievable. But at the end of the day, [John] wants to accomplish two things--he wants to be a contender on Oscar night with a party worth going to, and he wants to raise money. So that’s that.”
Sometimes Oscar fund-raisers aren’t worth the headache. Women in Film decided to scrap its annual event because of its recent downsizing, which left the organization without the wherewithal to mount it. The group is encouraging supporters to send money instead to the Women in Film Foundation to Finish Films, which provides grants for filmmakers.
“They can support next year’s nominees,” says Iris Grossman, the group’s president. “It’s kind of a no-frills party.”
Barneys and “Entertainment Tonight” entertained the idea of a TV-dinner party at the Beverly Hills store, but decided against fiddling while Barneys’ Chapter 11 problems burned.
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For studios celebrating nominations, Oscar parties are all in a day’s work. Some don’t even try to compete with the madding crowd, instead honoring their people at events the day before, such as MGM/UA’s party for “Leaving Las Vegas” at Eclipse; PolyGram Filmed Entertainment’s poolside brunch at president Michael Kuhn’s Hollywood Hills home for “Dead Man Walking” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus”; and Universal’s “Babe”-fest at Spago, which has become practically an anagram for Oscar.
On the Night Itself, Columbia/TriStar will fete “Sense and Sensibility” and star Emma Thompson at Drai’s, while Paramount extols “Braveheart” at Chasen’s.
Planet Hollywood is joining the fray with its first celebration, honoring Oscar emcee Whoopi Goldberg and benefiting Covenant House. Look for investors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, natch.
And L.A.’s magazines are getting into the act, Buzz with a party at Abiquiu and Los Angeles with a “Night of 100 Stars” benefit for the Film League at the Century Club & Grill, sponsored by Raymond Weil Watches.
“They want to compete with Vanity Fair,” says Los Angeles magazine spokesman Edward Lozzi. “It’s their town.”
The party to end all Oscar parties, literally, is the one at Georgia, which goes on into the wee hours--until 3:30 a.m. last year. The Melrose Avenue restaurant, which is partly owned by Denzel Washington and basketball’s Norm Nixon, plans to dance to the tune of “Waiting to Exhale.”
Still, some of the best parties are behind truly closed doors. Dani Janssen, formerly married to “Fugitive” David Janssen and director Hal Needham among others, resumed her celeb-full dinner parties after Swifty’s death.
“I’ve always sworn they came here for the food,” she says. “I cook it all. It’s just very homey, laid-back and not particularly quiet.”
And for some in Hollywood, the place to be is where whatever you have on is de rigueur. Says Women in Film’s Grossman: “I’m going to stay home and eat popcorn and call my girlfriends. That’s my favorite party.”
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Where the Stars Will Come Out
Host: Motion Picture Academy.
Location: Music Center Plaza.
Who’s Expected: Everyone who’s anyone.
Detail: Wolfgang Puck may helicopter in politically correct veal from Spago.
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Host: Vanity Fair.
Location: Morton’s.
Who’s Expected: Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas.
Detail: This party aspires to be the heir to Swifty Lazar’s event.
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Host: Miramax.
Location: Spago.
Who’s Expected: Quentin Tarantino, Giuseppe Tornatore.
Detail: Hopes are to repeat last year’s “Pulp Fiction” triumph with this year’s “The Postman (Il Postino).”
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Host: Universal.
Location: Spago.
Who’s Expected: Brad Pitt, Sharon Stone.
Detail: This Oscar eve bash is the feting of the “Babe” filmmakers.
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Host: Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Location: Maple Drive.
Who’s Expected: John always draws starry surprises.
Detail: A $250,000 take for the charity is hoped.
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Host: Paramount.
Location: Chasen’s.
Who’s Expected: Mel Gibson.
Detail: Party energy will rise if “Braveheart” wins.
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Host: Columbia/TriStar.
Location: Drai’s.
Who’s Expected: Emma Thompson.
Detail: The studio has a favorite for best picture in “Sense and Sensibility.”
