This Sunday, Feb. 22, Red Rivers Theatres will hold an official Oscar party. The theater is one of approximately 50 venues in the country to be designated an official party location ahead of about 600 other venues on the waiting list (someone at the theater did some very successful string pulling).
The event will be hosted by Ernest Thompson, Academy Award winning writer of “On Golden Pond.” Thompson’s Oscar will be on display at the event.
Admission includes watching the awards show with fellow fans, a cash bar, light hors d’oeuvres and desserts, an opportunity for photos with Oscar, a “Predict the Winners” contest, prizes and drawings during commercial breaks and live music by the Tall Granite Jazz Band.
The cost is $25 for theatre members, $30 nonmembers. VIP tickets are available for $50 members, $60 nonmembers. VIP tickets include a reception with Ernest Thompson on the sixth floor of the Capitol Commons building and an official Academy Awards program.
VIP red carpet arrival begins at 7 p.m. followed by general admission ticket holders at 7:30 p.m. Dress in your most festive attire.
All proceeds from the event will support Cross the Bridge, a youth education project created by Whitebridge Farm Productions, and other community educational programming by Red River Theatres.
Here are some Oscar facts, courtesy of Allyson Piper, marketing director for the theater.
- Oscar stands 13½ inches tall and weighs a robust 8½ pounds.
- The Oscar at Red River belongs to Ernest Thompson (he won it in 1982), Academy Award winning writer of “On Golden Pond.” starring Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. It was filmed here in New Hampshire.
- In 1982, On Golden Pond won 3 Oscars:
Best actor in a leading role – Henry Fonda (Fonda was not present at the awards ceremony. His daughter and co-star Jane Fonda accepted the award on his behalf.)
Best actress in a leading role – Katharine Hepburn (Hepburn was not present at the awards ceremony. Presenter Jon Voight accepted the award on her behalf.)
Best writing, screenplay based on material from another medium – Ernest Thompson. - On Feb 22 at Red River, Ernest Thompson will treat guests to stories of the night he won his Oscar and other A-list tales, offer unique takes on attending and voting for the Academy Awards, pulge insider scoop of this year in pictures and update everyone on his new film production company, Whitebridge Farm Productions.
- Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar, the origins of which aren’t clear. A popular story has been that Academy librarian and eventual executive director Margaret Herrick thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so, and that the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar. In any case, by the sixth awards presentation in 1934, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used the name in his column in reference to Katharine Hepburn’s first best actress win. The Academy itself didn’t use the nickname officially until 1939.
- Since the initial awards banquet on May 16, 1929, in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Blossom Room, 2,701 statuettes have been presented. Each January, additional new golden statuettes are cast, molded, polished and buffed by R.S. Owens & Company, the Chicago-based awards specialty company retained by the Academy since 1982 to make the award.
- The 15 statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze. Within a few years the bronze was abandoned in favor of britannia metal, a pewter-like alloy, which made it easier to give the statuettes their smooth finish. Due to the metals shortage during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, all of the awarded plaster figures were exchanged for gold-plated metal ones.
- Achievements in up to 24 regular categories will be honored this year at the 81st Academy Awards presentation at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. However, the Academy won’t know how many statuettes it will actually hand out until the envelopes are opened on Oscar night. Although the number of categories and special awards will be known prior to the ceremony, the possibility of ties and of multiple recipients sharing the prize in some categories makes the exact number of Oscar statuettes to be awarded unpredictable. As in previous years, any surplus awards will be housed in the Academy’s vault until next year’s event.
