A Repertory Night At The Oscars
Image Source: Ottawa Business Journal
Is there anything like a repertory theatre?
A little while ago, I wrote an article about the experience I had in a local repertory theatre, the Mayfair Theatre, at a showing of the classic Nosferatu. Since then, I have made more repertory theatre trips- not to the Mayfair, but to another repertory theatre in Ottawa- the Bytowne Cinema.
The Bytowne, which takes its name from Bytown, the original name of the City of Ottawa- first opened as the Nelson Theatre in 1947, and has been located at a handful of previous locations around the city before finding its current location. It seats 650 and is one of Ottawa’s main venues for independent and foreign films. I have attended multiple events at the Bytowne, including a trip to the Cat Video Film Festival. But on March 10th, I was there for the Oscars.
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Image Source: BBC
After hanging out in the lineup outside and chatting with a couple of teenage film fans, Ellie and Kenny, we proceeded inside and got ourselves seated. After getting myself a cider and grabbing a printout of the New York Times’ Oscar Ballot, I sat in the back row and took a look around.
Some people were in casual clothes, and some people were dressed to the nines. Notable highlights include a woman wearing a fabulous faux-fur shoulder cape and a guy in my row with lime green glasses and a blue velvet blazer.
The theatre started the show at 6:30, playing the last half-hour of the red carpet. Watching this, I reached several conclusions:
- Live Action Moana? Seriously?!
- Paul Giamatti could totally play Colonel Sanders in a biopic
- Rita Moreno is still absolutely FABULOUS at 92
- Cillian Murphy still wears his pants like he did in Oppenheimer
- Ariana Grande’s dress looked like some sort of exotic mushroom
- A bunch of the men were rocking some great brooches
The main show kicked off with opening remarks from a local comedian, whose name I did not write down and didn’t ask for later because I was kind of salty about not getting picked for any of the trivia questions that got asked during the commercial breaks. Props to the people around me who were indignant on my behalf, though.
During the show, many people took advantage of the fact that the theatre was selling miniature bottles of champagne, because why not? There was a partial standing ovation for Jimmy Kimmel and his comically large bowtie. Kimmel’s performance makes me think he is a worthy successor as Oscar host to the likes of Billy Crystal and other legends.
Highlights of the show included:
- Robert Downey Junior may be throwing the finger at Kimmel
- The dog
- WHO’S TRACKING THE MURDER HORNETS?!
- “Steve, are you here because you have season tickets?”
- The love for the behind-the-scenes people
- The wonderful way of having past winners introduce the acting nominees
- The awkward dynamic of Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy
- Billie Eilish’s haunting voice
- John Cena (IYKYK)
- The girl sitting next to me bringing ramen because she didn’t eat dinner
- The Osage singers and dancers bringing me to tears
- The salute to the stunt performers
- GODZILLA
- Calling out Batman
- Guillermo bringing tequila for everyone
- Thinking the dancers in cowboy hats might actually be from Chippendales
- SLASH
- The “I’m Just Ken” karaoke
- Al Pacino just being an adorable old man
Image Source: Spectrum News
And, of course, the many award winners.
The night came to a wonderful end. After a great and unique Oscar experience, I left the Bytowne satisfied, and in anticipation of returning for future events. These include Drunken Cinema, where the movie will be Beverly Hills Cop, and Audience Participation Night, where the movie will be Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The bonus? I was able to walk home without getting hassled. Turns out that the closing of the janky McDonalds really did make a difference.
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