For Oscar Parties, It’s an Honor Just to Be Invited

The stars came out and partied from the Beverly Hills Hotel to Morton’s Sunday night in movieland’s glammest bacchanal of the year.

The Board of Governors Ball, as usual, was the first party stop for Oscar winners. Surrounded by parents Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow and friends from New York’s tony Spence School, Gwyneth Paltrow held court at table 39 in the tented Music Center plaza as a steady stream of Hollywood’s elite stopped to wish her well.

“I’m so proud of her, and I’m not even her mother!” said best actress nominee Meryl Streep. Disney Chairman Michael Eisner beamed, “It was a good night for us--[Disney-owned] ABC and Miramax.”

Before the white salmon and free-range veal arrived, Gov. Gray Davis chatted with Gen. Colin Powell. Asked about his first Oscar experience, Davis said, “I was rooting for ‘Saving Private Ryan’--being a Vietnam veteran. But I’m having a good time anyway; it is the Governors Ball after all.”

A reserved “Elizabeth” director Shekhar Kapur and his wife Suchitra Krishnamurti, both in elegant Indian attire, admitted to being overwhelmed by the hoopla. “I am surprised Cate [Blanchett] didn’t win. I think a lot of people are.”

Best supporting actor nominee Geoffrey Rush cut a mean rug to the Big Band sounds of the Pat Longo Orchestra, while Paltrow and her entourage shimmied through dancers on their way out. “We can all get in to the Vanity Fair party!” she said excitedly (as if this was going to be a problem).

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It was Shakespeare, rattle and roll to maximum capacity at the Miramax post-Oscar bash at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel.

Anyone who was anyone jammed into the Polo Lounge and its outdoor courtyard to celebrate Miramax’s seven Oscars for “Shakespeare in Love” and three for “Life is Beautiful.” The 800 guests included party recluse Robert De Niro, Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, Nick Nolte, Jay Leno, Eisner, Kim Delaney, Timothy Hutton, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Keaton, Willem Dafoe, Rupert Everett, Ben Affleck, Judi Dench, William H. Macy, Uma Thurman, Kevin Costner, Evan Leslie Adams, Michael Bolton, Illeana Douglas and Andie MacDowell.

Other guests munching on caviar and drinking champagne included Oscar winners Donna Gigliotti and David Parfitt (producers for “Shakespeare in Love”); Roberto Benigni, James Coburn, Sandy Powell (costume designer for “Shakespeare in Love”); and Keiko Ibi (short documentary filmmaker), who handed out business cards that plugged her film as well as her gown by David Tupaz couture in Los Angeles.

Adams, who days earlier won the Best Debut Performance Award at the Independent Spirit Awards for his work in “Smoke Signals,” said the experience of his first Oscar party “is very different from my real life back in Canada.” Adams, a Coast Salish Native American, is a medical student in Calgary. He and his companion, gymnast Dakota Hart, were star-struck as Thurman swept past them in a Chanel couture gown, as Nolte sat on a bar stool and held court.

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At Vanity Fair’s annual bash at Morton’s, culture icons like Madonna, Billy Wilder and Anthony Hopkins watched the awards over dinner with such icon-makers as Marvin Davis, S.I. Newhouse and Barry Diller. Party newcomer Monica Lewinsky was fawned over by other guests as much as any studio head. She whispered to Tony Curtis and preened for Herb Ritts’ camera.

“I had my photo taken with her,” said humorist Fran Lebowitz. “I didn’t expect to have such a vivid Christmas card.”

Beneath a 7,500-square-foot tent behind Morton’s, which was transformed into an outdoor living room, producer Steve Tisch celebrated coming as a guest. He launched the Vanity Fair party as co-host with editor Graydon Carter six years ago but pulled out after the second year.

“I lost too many friends, so I let Graydon take over the whole thing,” Tisch said. “Too many people want to get in, and there’s not enough room, so in the business people threaten you. Agents said, ‘I won’t send you scripts. I won’t make deals with you.’ No one’s going to threaten Graydon.”

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With the success of the Vanity Fair party, other celebrity-driven magazines joined in the high-profile fun: InStyle magazine linked up with the Elton John AIDS Foundation in co-hosting an Oscar bash at Pagani.

For the first time, Elton John partied across the street from Morton’s, transforming the intersection of Robertson and Melrose into a tightly regulated thicket of paparazzi, security people, stars and stargazers.

Guests like Mavis and Jay Leno ferried back and forth between both parties. “I’m foraging for guests,” quipped Leno as he navigated the crowd at Pagani. Leno was gearing up to interview his host, John, on “The Tonight Show” to promote today’s launch of his new album, “Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida.”

In addition to movie folk like Goldie Hawn, Jim Carrey and Geena Davis, John’s bash, which raised more than $300,000, lured major music stars Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart and Janet Jackson.

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The DreamWorks/Paramount party at Barnaby’s on south Fairfax, a more subdued soiree, was attended by the dutiful soldiers from “Saving Private Ryan.”

Adam Goldberg and gal pal Julie Delpy, camcorder in hand, made their way through the crowd, where guests sat on Mondrian-esque couches munching on sushi. Ed Burns and date Heather Graham joined A-listers Hanks and Harrison Ford at the leather banquettes in the back. Best director Spielberg looked quite the swinger puffing a fat cigar, while DreamWorks partner David Geffen worked the crowd.

In stark contrast to the elegant crowd and minimalist decor (banks of wheat grass in place of flowers) was the original Playboy Hugh Hefner and his table of surgically-enhanced and gaudily dressed Playmates.