Curses, Foiled Again

It didn’t go quite as planned.

After the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences instituted a new policy forbidding fans from camping out on the sidewalk the night before the Oscars, hordes of fans camped out anyway--this time to get their “priority passes” to bleacher seats at next week’s event.

About 700 fans showed up, some of whom began arriving Monday afternoon to spend the night on the sidewalk outside the Shrine Auditorium so they would be at the head of the line when the academy Tuesday began issuing 500 free tickets to the bleachers.

The academy, hoping to eliminate the overnight camp-outs because of safety concerns, thought the new system would keep Oscar-night fans at bay. But starry-eyed movie lovers in pursuit of the best seats showed they’re not so easily corralled.

Still, security guards did try to at least set down some rules.

“We had to sit upright, and we couldn’t get in our sleeping bags,” said Lola Lopp, 33, who, at 4:30 p.m. Monday, was the first in line. “They said they would clean us out if we got comfortable.”

But by 2 a.m. the rules had lapsed and fans sprawled across the sidewalk, going to sleep, they said.

The campers were the ones who got passes Tuesday morning; people who arrived after 8 a.m. did not.

Fans who received the prized tickets won the privilege to turn out Sunday morning and spend the night in the bleachers waiting for Monday’s big event--when the celebrities walk from their limos into the auditorium.

“The excitement is to see an actual actor in person,” said Mark Gonzales, 43.

A sheet metal worker who took the day off to get passes for his family, he spent hours Tuesday morning stuck in a traffic jam on his way in from Temecula. Arriving after 10 a.m., he doubted that he would get a ticket, but insisted that he would not be frustrated if the journey proved fruitless.

“I’ll wait until they say there’s no tickets and at least I can go home and tell them I tried,” he said.

John Ramirez, 33, of Santa Barbara said that when he called the academy last week, he was told tickets would be issued all day.

After the booth closed Tuesday, he joined an angry crowd demanding tickets.

One man held up a crumpled newspaper article that said tickets would be handed out from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily until 1,100 passes were distributed. Others said they heard similar announcements on TV.

Academy representatives said that the reports were inaccurate, and that the other half of the 1,000 seats would be made available Sunday.

Robin Young, a flight attendant, heard about the “priority passes” on the news Monday night. She worked a flight to Charlotte, N.C., and immediately got on a plane back to Los Angeles. She stood in line on 32nd Street holding her standard-issue roller-equipped luggage.

“This will be very disappointing,” she said around 11 a.m. as security guards began informing people in the line that no more passes were available.

The ticketless were told to return Sunday, when the academy will let 500 more people into the bleachers.

“We’ve been calling for two weeks to get accurate information from the academy and we get this!” Ramirez shouted at security guards and academy officials.

Frank Marquez, an academy representative who distributed the tickets, addressed the group: “Anybody who wants to stay here and give me their phone number and address, we’ll send you a poster.”

Arthur Nakane, 61, obtained his ticket but initially didn’t understand that once he enters the bleachers Sunday, he can’t step out for a moment and expect to return.

“I have to be here for 30 hours?” he asked himself as he read an information sheet distributed by the academy.