The current July issue of Premiere Magazine is featuring a story that
is entitled "A Night to Remember" but also it has a cover banner
reading: "Nipple Checks & Acrobats: Backstage Oscar Exclusive!"

A male reporter and his photographer were backstage in March, not only on the night the Awards were presented but also at rehearsal the day before. It is primarily a look at the job of producing the show and thus most of the anecdotes in the article revolve around Laura Ziskin, this year's producer.

Russell Crowe, who never prerecords a voice-over with the nominees' names, flashed a peace sign on his way out.

Russell is mentioned 4 times and a small picture, which I shall attach, shows him on stage in his red flannel shirt holding a phony envelope, taken as he was rehearsing the presentation he would make the next day for the Best Actress winner.

Items about RC (condensed to omit non-Russell names):

1. At 5:25 p.m. on the afternoon of March 24, Laura Z. looked into the audience and panicked. As producer of the 74th annual AA, she had already labored for a tumultuous seven months to stage Hollywood's biggest night.......But now she faced what looked like the biggest problem of all: Julia Roberts and Russell Crowe wouldn't sit down. In 5 minutes she was planning to turn the cameras on seats where dozens of stars were supposed to be sitting - seats that stood empty as their occupants socialized in the aisles. So the producer dashed into the audience at the Kodak and began making personal pleas.....Seeing Crowe in the aisle, Ziskin appealed to Ron Howard. "Ron, would you ask your actor to sit down?" she said.

2. On rehearsal day a parade of stars came in every 15 minutes to meet with Ziskin, go over their lines, and rehearse on stage. Nobody complained about the stringent no-smoking rules, except Russell Crowe. Later, as he came offstage after his rehearsal, Crowe spotted writer Kimberly Painter wearing a FREE WINONA T-shirt. "Where'd you get that shirt?" he said. "I want one."

3.By 3 o'clock in the afternoon (of the actual show), guests were already starting to arrive.......The last to arrive was Russell Crowe, who was met at the door by a stage manager and an ABC page who offered to whisk Crowe and girlfriend Danielle Spencer to their seats. "I can find my own way to my seats, thank you very much," he said and headed for the men's room. Crowe finally made it into the theater, just in time for Ziskin's final pleas.

4. 5:41 P.M. PST: After Cruise's speech and Errol Morris's film, Whoopi Goldberg descended from the ceiling on a golden swing. Horvitz (the cameraman) cut to a shot of Russell Crowe laughing. (I guess we ALL saw that.)

The article ends with two short paragraphs about Ron and Brian receiving their awards for ABM.

Thanks, Bobbie