Last Sunday, members of the local community peered into Drexel Theatre’s glass doors, eager for the 29th annual Oscars Red Carpet Bash to start. While the actual Oscars ceremony didn’t start until 7 p.m., the bash started at 5:30, still too late for excited movie lovers.
Since 1997, Drexel has streamed the Academy Awards in its largest theater for those who love movies so much that they want to watch the ceremony in a theater while dressed in formal attire or movie-related costumes, instead of on their TV at home.
Tickets to the event cost $35 for Drexel members and $45 for non-members, which may seem like a heavy cost for something you could watch at home for free, but included with each ticket is one alcoholic or bottle drink, one box of candy and one boxed lunch. Also, fountain drinks and popcorn are unlimited throughout the whole night.
This cost breaks down to less than $9 per item; much lower than the usual prices.
Last year’s caterer of the boxed lunch was Dirty Frank’s, a local hot dog restaurant. This year, the caterer got even more local with the main course being provided by Newfangled Kitchen, a family-owned restaurant only a few stores over from Drexel.
In traditional Red Carpet Bash fashion, the selections from the caterer’s usual menu were renamed after Best Picture nominees. Some of the sandwiches Newfangled provided were One Barnyard After Another (normally the Barnyard Caviar sandwich), named after “One Battle After Another,” and the Chatty Supreme (normally the Chatty Cathy sandwich), named after “Marty Supreme.”
One of Newfangled’s workers, Ethan Dennison, correctly predicted that “One Battle After Another” would win Best Picture.
Over the years, there have been several pairs of artist/performer hosts to lead the trivia and costume contest during commercial breaks. Comedic performers Hilary Buchanan and Tara DeFrancisco hosted for the second year in a row. Defrancisco is one of the owners of The Nest Theatre, a venue for all kinds of comedy, including stand-up and improv.
Before the ceremony started, Drexel Theatre director Mack Glasgow made an announcement thanking people for attending the event and for seeing many of the nominated films at Drexel. “[Thank you for] joining us at our humble little theater as we celebrate this year in film,” he said. “It means a lot to me personally.”
Glasgow understandably declined a brief interview because he was trying to take a break every chance he got. Drexel workers got to the theater around 4 p.m. to start preparing for the fun but busy night.
The attendees seemed to enjoy this year’s Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, who DeFrancisco labeled as a “hero.”
The night’s most well received moments of the night were Amy Madigan’s Best Supporting Actress win for her performance in “Weapons,” Ryan Coogler’s Best Original Screenplay win for “Sinners” and every time they cut to Jacob Elordi whistling.
No applause was greater, however, than when Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for his performance in “Sinners.”
Due to all of the love “Sinners” got, it was clear some audience members were a little disappointed when “One Battle After Another” won Best Picture, but there was also a clear wave of support for the film, resulting in an overall contentment to close out the night.
When the event was over, people repeated their earlier actions by crowding around outside the theater; they weren’t ready to leave yet.
