NEW YORK — Oscars watch parties are ready for a reboot.
Entertainment venues in New York City are bringing back watch parties for Sunday night’s Academy Awards after many events were canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local comedians are set to host events at Caveat on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and at Littlefield in Brooklyn to bring a little extra fun to the film industry’s biggest night.
“We’ve been sitting on our couch a lot the last two years,” says standup comic Courtney Maginnis, who is co-hosting the party at Littlefield.
“The Oscars are ridiculous. We’re just watching a bunch of millionaires give each other awards, so it’s really fun to be together and kind of poke fun at it, but also get really passionate about who we think should win things.”
Sunday’s event at Caveat will be hosted by comedian Jenny Gorelick, who has emceed award show watch parties since 2019.
She says this year’s Oscars party will feature a panel of comics to offer commentary throughout the broadcast, as well as live performances of the smash hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s “Encanto” and the song “Therapy” from the musical “Tick, Tick...Boom!”
The night will also include a one-woman performance of songs from “West Side Story,” which is nominated for best picture.
“During the commercial breaks, we have performances and celebrity impressions and other comedic bits to kind of keep it entertaining throughout the three-hour ceremony, because the Oscars are so long,” Gorelick told the Daily News.
“I’m very excited about a drag performance that’s going to incorporate a lot of the different Oscar films from Chola Spears.”
Doors open at Caveat at 7:30 p.m., with tickets selling for $15 through advance purchases and $20 at the venue. Caveat requires attendees to show proof of COVID vaccination.
The party at Littlefield, meanwhile, is free to attend, but organizers encourage people to RSVP to reserve a glass of champagne, and to show up early before the event reaches capacity. Doors open at Littlefield at 6 p.m., with the red-carpet preshow starting at 6:30 p.m.
Littlefield doesn’t require proof of vaccination.
“We like to interview people and ask who they’re wearing, and everyone’s like, ‘H&M.’ It’s very lighthearted and silly, and they get free popcorn,” Maginnis, who is co-hosting the event with Wil Cope, told The News. “Littlefield is a great venue.”
Both Maginnis and Gorelick expect their parties to reach full capacity, with the venues holding approximately 100 to 150 people.
This year marks the fourth time Maginnis has hosted the Oscars event, which is presented by the entertainment website theskint.com.
“Some of [the guests] are obsessive, and as soon as we ask them who they think is going to win best picture, it’s all over and you’re just talking to them for 15, 20 minutes,” Maginnis said. “And then other people are just [there] for a fun, free event, and you get your glass of champagne and it’s really casual, so it’s really for any level of movie watcher.”
Gorelick also teased a “fun and goofy and silly” party at Caveat, where she says impersonators will mimic Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and more.
“There’s something very theatrical about it,” Gorelick said. “When there’s a shocking win like ‘Parasite’ [in 2020], you can be on your couch in your PJs and be like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe it, they did it,’ or you can be in the room where we’re literally applauding and freaking out. There’s something about the energy of being surrounded by people who are excited to find out who wins.”
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