After the movie stars finish posing on the Oscar red carpet Sunday night, they鈥檒l swish in their custom gowns and tailor-made tuxes into 鈥� a shopping mall. Yes, a mall. A nice one in a prime Hollywood location, but it鈥檚 still a mall with the usual stores and slight food-court smell.
But with the miracle of visual effects 鈥� if anyone knows how to best use 200 metres of red carpet, waterfall-high drapery and flattering camera angles, it better be Hollywood 鈥� you鈥檇 never know it.
It鈥檚 one of the most surprising things learned in a guided tour of the Dolby Theatre, the official home of the Oscars since 2002. The theatre, originally slated to be the mall鈥檚 parking garage, is in the Hollywood & Highland Shopping Centre on Hollywood Boulevard.
Several tours are given each day (dolbytheatre.com/tours) and it鈥檚 $20 US well spent. Most tours are led by aspiring actors and filmmakers who are also among the 4,500 people approved to work at the Oscar ceremony. (They must pass security clearances.)
Storefronts, many of them chain stores that we also have at local malls, are all curtained in red and signage has been removed. There鈥檚 no knowing that George and Amal Clooney are posing in front of Gap.
And nix the idea of using shopping as an excuse to sneak a peak through the store curtains 鈥� the stores must all close on Oscar day.
Up a wide set of stairs 鈥� each step marked with white tape to make it easier to navigate for those in long dresses 鈥� and attendees are in the lobby of the Dolby Theatre.
Inside the theatre, we got to stand on the stage where Leonardo DiCaprio hopes to be Sunday night, the Oscar statuette for best actor in hand.
At 34 metres wide by 18 metres deep, the stage is about the size of an NBA basketball court, and it looks large on television. But when you鈥檙e standing on it, the theatre feels oddly intimate. There鈥檚 barely room for Jennifer Lawrence to trip between the plush seats and the stage.
Nominees are clustered close to the front of the 3,400-seat theatre. The configuration makes it feel as if you鈥檙e at a small concert, hanging out with your friends Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon.
David Hunter, Jr, our Lou Rawls-voiced guide, gave us some seemingly inside details. Here are a few.
鈥� In 2002, the first year the Oscars were held at the theatre, all the Oscar statuettes were stolen. It was an inside job by two employees. The gold-plated Oscars were found in a dumpster, but not until after new ones were made.
鈥� As soon as Oscar winners walk off the stage, they have to attend to legal business. Two small desks are jammed in the wings. Winners must sign a legal document saying they will not sell the Oscar statuette. If they don鈥檛, they can鈥檛 take听it.
鈥� The Oscar is blank when winners are given it. Their name is engraved on it at the Oscar party afterwards 鈥� at no cost.
鈥� Stars who are presenting awards head backstage one full commercial break before they go on stage.
鈥� That鈥檚 when seatfillers leap (quietly) into action. These well-dressed people, usually relatives of academy members or of ABC employees, are given strict instructions to quickly scoot into that seat until the star returns. The aim is to have no empty seats shown on TV.
鈥� Seatfillers are not to talk to anyone unless spoken to first.
鈥� There are only two backstage bathrooms on the stage level of the theatre. Each accommodates one person at a time, leading to the typical long lines.
鈥� Drinks at the two lobby bars are free until the show begins; it鈥檚 regular price from then on and apparently a good place to see stars who don鈥檛 win.
鈥� Nominees receive two free tickets. Other tickets range from $750 to $350 (in the upper balcony)
鈥� The orchestra that sounds so great is actually two kilometres away, playing live at Capitol Records. The sound is piped back to the theatre via fiber optic cables.
鈥� The two Pricewaterhouse Coopers partners who lead the ballot team fly out separately from Chicago. On stage, each stands in an opposing wing and keeps the envelopes until they鈥檙e handed to the award presenter just as that person goes onstage.
鈥� The two also memorize the winners, in case something goes awry with the envelopes.
Each year, about 700 bleacher seats outside the theatre are given out via lottery. For details, see oscars.org/insider
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DAYTRIPS
If you鈥檙e in Hollywood for the Oscars, it鈥檚 easy to add on a few days sussing out other places locals head to for a weekend away from the city.
Los Angeles is tattooed with with cloverleafs and highways. One positive is that means it鈥檚 relatively easy to get out of the city and up the truly breathtaking California coast.
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Santa Barbara and area
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Two hours north of Los Angeles, this postcard-pretty city of 90,000 boasts as many celebrities as Hollywood, albeit living on acreages in an area dubbed the American Riviera.
Oprah has a home in the area, as do Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi, Jeff Bridges, Stevie Nicks and Whoopi Goldberg, to name a few. Michael Jackson and Julia Child lived here, too, and author Sue Grafton based her bestselling A is for Alibi novels here. It鈥檚 easy to imagine Kinsey Millhone鈥檚 little carriage house among the cottages that still line the blocks near the beach.
Strict bylaws keep the historic downtown core looking more like an upscale Spanish village than the consumer haven that it is. Facades must be built in the Mission style. You can barely see the Nordstrom鈥檚 sign.
Near the beach is the Funk Zone. This former industrial and warehouse area has seen its tire shops, fish plants and sex shops repurposed into a foodie/wine/ artist enclave. It鈥檚 a great 12-block area to wander, with dozens of small-batch wineries, 24 tasting rooms, galleries, a surf museum, restaurants and live music. (santabarbaraca.com/things-to-do/funk-zone)
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Where to stay: The Four Seasons Santa Barbara (fourseasons.com/ santabarbara).
Okay, it鈥檚 not hard to like a Four Seasons, but this one is pretty special. It鈥檚 across a two-lane road from the ocean and is built in a hacienda style that complements and reflects the area. The ambience and service are top-notch, yet casual.
You can have a caviar brunch and then ride a bike into Santa Barbara. You can even take a volleyball lesson from two-time Olympian gold medalist and Santa Barbara native Todd Rogers. And dogs are not only welcome, but a bit celebrated.
San Luis Obispo (Loo-iss,听not Loo-ee)
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If Santa Barbara is the place you go for a glitzy, yet laidback weekend, San Luis Obispo is the place you visit but want to live. For some (like my hubby), Santa Barbara is 鈥渢oo pretty. It鈥檚 got no soul.鈥� San Luis Obispo, too, is pretty, but it feels like real people live and work there. Tucked between the Coast Range mountains and the Pacific Ocean, SLO (as the locals call it) is a college town where graduates want to stay.
The town of 45,000 has a thriving centre with a good variety of restaurants (there are no drive-throughs allowed in the town), community arts and crafts and a growing but off-the-radar wine area in the Edna Valley.
It鈥檚 a great place to base yourself for exploring nearby attractions such as Hearst Castle (hearstcastle.org), 70 kilometres north.
Ten kilometres north of Hearst Castle is the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery, nature that is every bit as magnificent as the excess that was Hearst鈥檚.
The rookery is spread over 10 kilometres of shoreline. Depending on the time of year, it鈥檚 home to thousands of elephant seals, so named because adult males have large noses that resemble an elephant鈥檚 trunk.
Males can grow up to four metres in length and weight up to 2,000 kilograms. Females are about three metres and 600 kilograms. (elephantseal.org)
Pismo Beach, 18 kilometres west of SLO, is a gorgeous beach with a town that bills itself as 鈥渃lassic California.鈥� There鈥檚 kitsch galore 鈥� the Cool Cat Caf茅, saltwater taffy, cotton candy 鈥� but none of it is ironic. It鈥檚 a sincere old-school town where you can drive your car or dune buggy on the beach, build a fire, watch surfers and walk for miles and feel like you have the ocean to yourself.
Tip: The Baileyana tasting room (baileyana.com/ tasting-room), housed in a historic 1909 schoolhouse overlooking vineyards and the coastal foothills, is a terrific place to taste the local pinot noir and chardonnay.
Play bocce ball on their courts and have a sunset picnic on the grounds.
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Kim Westad is a former sa国际传媒 reporter and Victoria-based freelance writer.
