An Evening With The Stars
Mother, daughter from Gilbertsville see Oscars up close
Fans of the Academy Awards know that as fun as it is to watch, there’s nothing quite like attending it in person.
That opportunity became a reality for two local women who got the chance to watch the celebrities in person as they strolled the famous red carpet.
“We have a little Oscars party every year with the same group just for fun. We get really into it, watch the movies all year long. We always watched and wondered how those people got to sit in the bleachers along the red carpet,” said Dee Smith, a Gilbertsville resident who attended the Oscars with her daughter.
Smith and her daughter, Brittany, a 2010 graduate of Boyertown Area High School, finally found out how to score those sweet seats after Brittany entered a program through the Academy for a chance to win a fan experience.
“Every year the Academy and People Magazine give out a certain number of seats for fans to sit in the bleachers. She was chosen through the Academy. Only 350 fans were chosen. We’ve done it for years but this is the first time it happened. We were lucky. We’ve never won anything before,” said Smith.
In fact, Smith said they had trouble even believing they had really been chosen.
“We got the email and had to answer within 48 hours. The first 24 was just us being skeptical,” she laughed. “Then Brittany was checking it out and realized it was real.”
Their day started early as they arrived at the venue by 8 a.m. They were then shown to their seats on the bleachers as activity surrounding the day had already begun.
“We were given breakfast, lunch and dinner and we were treated by them. They had hand massages and Maybelline was there doing hair and makeup. We were so infatuated by what was going on we
didn’t even want to leave our seats. It was fascinating to watch all the behind the scenes stuff you never get to see,” said Smith.
The real excitement came, however, once the celebrities arrived. Smith said that they were pretty excited to see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper but that the best part of the experience with celebrities was their interactions with the crowds.
“I loved the way the crowd in the bleachers pumped us up. When the cast of Bohemian Rhapsody came through everyone in the bleachers did the stomp clap from ‘We Will Rock You,’” said Smith.
“The celebrities were very gracious and really interacted with the fans. My favorite moment was with Chadwick Boseman. He came up and did the ‘Wakanda Forever’ from Black Panther and I thought it was really fun. The celebrities were actually taking pictures of us. You could tell they were having a good time and were very gracious. That was my favorite part,” Smith said.
Smith added that one of the most surprising things about the experience was how different everything looked in person, specifically the celebrities’ dresses.
“I can tell you the dresses in person look totally different than they do on TV. Everyone was talking about Helen Mirren’s dress. In person it was a vivid hot pink and when I saw it on TV later it didn’t really look like that. It was exciting seeing the dresses right before you in person. That really struck me,” she said.
After the celebrities were ushered inside the theater, fans on the bleachers were escorted across the street into the El Capitan theater for a private live stream viewing of the ceremony, an experience Smith said she will never forget.
“It’s a gorgeous theater. It was like we were watching it in person. It was a really cool way to end the day,” said Smith. “It was just a once in a lifetime opportunity.”