The Kodak Seizes the Moment When It Counts

The biggest challenge for guests attending this year’s Academy Awards ceremony at the Kodak Theatre--the awards show’s brand-new long-term home in Hollywood--came early in the evening.

It was the 37 Steps.

“The 39 Steps” is an Alfred Hitchcock horror movie. The 37 Steps at the Kodak Theatre are a potential horror movie because you have to climb them all to get into the main lobby after walking down the red carpet. This was true no matter how high the heels, or how big the star.

But--at least according to an unscientific survey conducted in the various lobbies of the multi-level Kodak--there were no step-related mishaps on the way into the Academy Awards’ new digs, although a few could be observed teetering just a little, the angle of tilt determined by the comparative tightness of the skirt.

“If anybody fell, I was praying it wasn’t going to be me,” said Kathy Murphy, a guest of Pixar who wore a sparkly pair of silver sandals with 2-inch heels under her floor-length dress.

“I just held onto the rail, girl!” exclaimed Rachel Zellars, who works at Paramount, another 2-inch-heel wearer.

Once inside, everything went smoothly in the new 3,500-seat theater, which looked glamorous even on television.

Onstage, host Whoopi Goldberg cracked only one joke about why the awards ceremony moved: “Tonight marks the debut of Oscar’s new house, the Kodak Theatre. Beautiful, isn’t it? The academy wanted to stay at the old place, but the networks thought they should go with a younger theater.”

Critics have complained that, acoustically, this theater will never win any awards. But even though a few audience members complained that they couldn’t hear Tom Cruise’s comments about Sept. 11 at the top of the show, they blamed the low volume on the actor’s attempt to sound earnest.

Backstage, even the winners for best sound editing (George Watters II and Christopher Boyes for “Pearl Harbor”) said the acoustics were just fine. And “it might not be great for a classical music concert, but this kind of event, it seems to work,” said one academy employee who asked not to be named.

Both longtime award show attendees and those new to the experience offered rave reviews of the new theater, praising everything from the ease of traffic flow to the efficient post-Sept. 11 security checks to the restrooms, which were plentiful.

“I love the bathrooms,” said Carol Mukhalian, attending the awards with her husband, actor Vincent Schiavelli, as guests of producer Saul Zaentz. “Lots of times, when I’m in a ladies’ room, I’ll say, ‘A man designed this building.’ But this is great.”

Anne Wills, a visitor from Australia, has been coming to the Academy Awards since 1981. “The whole layout here is much nicer, much better organized, than at both the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Shrine,” she said, referring to the awards show’s two most recent homes. “This is a good location--even with coming up those stairs.”

Academy executive administrator Ric Robertson, in charge of theater operations on Sunday, said midway through the show that all was flowing smoothly. “Everything seems to be going extraordinarily well. People took our advice and arrived early, so traffic was never a problem,” he said. He noted that attendees arrived 15 minutes to half an hour earlier than usual.

Before the ceremony, some people had complained they couldn’t get tickets because of the size of the theater. And Kodak Theatre watchers worried that the theater’s multiple levels and elevators might cause some problems, but the production staff was grateful for the elevators.

“At the Shrine, our production offices were on the second floor. It was hard to bring everything up the stairs,” said Jomarr Ileto, production assistant for Michael Seligman Productions. “This is definitely a nicer facility.”