When the curtain goes down at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Oscar Night kicks into high gear. This year's post-awards festivities featured charity events, another bash hosted by Irving ''Swifty'' Lazar, who's now 86, and plenty of party-hearty celebs who managed to be here, there, and everywhere.
BENEFIT FOR EL RESCATE
Locale: Mondrian Hotel on the Sunset Strip
Guest List: Hollywood's most noted activists, including Tim
Robbins, Susan Sarandon, and Jackson Browne
Most Unlikely Attendee: Rodney Dangerfield, with a really dishy
blond on his arm
Best Distraction: Trying to decide if a certain very attractive
blond was doing a Jaye Davidson after (a) hearing she'd been in a
stage revue, ''It's a Man's Man's Man's Man's World,'' (b) hearing her
say she ''was ahead of the Game a long time ago,'' and (c)
contemplating the shape of her ankles and legs
Best Comment: Robbins explaining his and Sarandon's plea for
HIV-positive Haitian refugees: ''Just because there's a Democrat in
the White House doesn't mean people can relax.''
WOMEN IN FILM
Locale: The Biltmore Hotel
Guest List: Marisa Tomei, Anthony Hopkins, Betty Friedan, Kathy
Bates, Diane Ladd, Lukas Haas, Sean Young, Rita Moreno, Donald
O'Connor
Most Unlikely Attendee: Ike Turner, who, when cornered by
reporters, answered questions about wife abuse
Best Distraction: Watching partygoers participate in a benefit
auction that included items like a Lady Americana mattress and a Club
Med vacation
Overheard: A Philadelphia radio-show host attended for the sole
purpose of ''meeting a rich man.''
THE GOVERNORS BALL
Locale: Adjacent to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Guest List: Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jaye
Davidson, Sharon Stone, Stephen Rea, Billy Crystal, Marisa Tomei,
Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Elizabeth Taylor, Anthony
Hopkins, Clint Eastwood
Food for Thought: California cuisine that was a parody of
itself — cinnamon-grilled chicken and vegetable columns
Most Intriguing Entrance: Davidson and Stone, who walked in
exchanging pleasantries
Most Awkward Seating Plan: Oscar winner Emma Thompson, her statue
proudly perched next to her dinner plate, sitting directly across
from a dour-looking Catherine Deneuve
Most Conspicuous Couple: Barbra Streisand and Peter Weller and
their entourage
Best Overheard Comment: ''We were stuck in the major nosebleed
section,'' said one player, clutching a portable phone.
ELTON JOHN AIDS BENEFIT
Locale: Maple Drive, chic Beverly Hills eatery
Guest List: Elton John, Marisa Tomei, Sharon Stone, Billy Baldwin
with Chynna Phillips, Sarah Jessica Parker with Matthew Broderick.
Food for Thought: Caviar pastry puffs served on banana leaves
Most Unlikely Attendees: Saturday Night Live stars Chris Rock,
Mike Myers, Chris Farley, and David Spade, who all looked out of
place among this no-smoking, Pellegrino-drinking crowd
Best Comment: Stone to publicist: ''Who are these people? Make them
stop nagging me.''
