The Academy Museum is hosting an Oscar night gala. (photo courtesy of Andy Kitchen)

Inside the Academy Museum, an entire room is dedicated to the history of the Oscar ceremony, complete with a display of authentic statuettes, red carpet looks and other memorabilia. Clark Gable’s Oscar for “It Happened One Night” is displayed. In the museum’s “Regeneration” exhibit sits Sidney Poitier’s award for “Lilies of the Field.” On March 12, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences marks its 95th anniversary, and now movie fans can enjoy the organization’s trademark event at the Saban Building, home of Los Angeles’ premier museum on film history.

The full museum will be on display for partygoers, and attendees are encouraged to wear their best Hollywood glam and walk the red carpet. The David Geffen Theater will have a live stream of the ceremony and food will be catered by Wolfgang Puck. The $250 ticket price also includes a commemorative gift, access to photo booths and a 15% discount at the museum store.

“[It’s] special because you’re surrounded by memorabilia from past award-winning films,” said Sam Erdal, an Oscar enthusiast who co-hosts the podcast “The Envelope Please.”

“The museum has become a centralized location for Oscar fans. And to watch the Oscars in a screening room where Oscar movies get screened has an extra special layer to it.”

The Academy Museum pays tribute to the history not only of the movies, but of the organization itself. The Academy was founded on May 11, 1927. Formed by a group of Hollywood moguls, the intention of the Academy was to both improve the image of the industry and serve as a mediator in labor union disputes. The Academy decided to establish merit-based awards, which were first presented on May 16, 1929. The Academy played “catch up” for the first few ceremonies, honoring films made in both 1927 and 1928 at the first event –  a private banquet held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. It only took 15 minutes to hand out 15 statuettes.

By the mid-1930s, the award was largely viewed as the preeminent honor in the film industry, and the statuette’s likeness was used to advertise films and its stars.

Landmarks and records have been achieved at the ceremony over the years. Hattie McDaniel was the first Black performer to win an Oscar when she took home the Best Supporting Actress award for “Gone with the Wind” in 1940. Bette Davis was the first actor to amass 10 nominations, a feat that has since been matched or surpassed by Katharine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. Hepburn has the most awards of any performer with four, while Walt Disney won the most Oscars overall with 26. He also has the most nominations with 59, while composer John Williams has the most nominations of any living person with 53 (he’s won five). “Ben-Hur,” “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King” have all matched the record for the most wins by a single film with 11, while three films have received 14 nominations, the aforementioned “Titanic,” “All About Eve” and “La La Land.”

This year, if Michelle Yeoh takes home the Best Actress award for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” she will become the first Asian person to win in a leading performance category. “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is also favored to win Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan and has a chance of winning Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis. If it takes home these three honors, it will become only the third film in history to win three of four acting awards – the other two being “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Network.”

As for Oscars’ name? That’s a hotly debated topic. Bette Davis claimed for years she named the award in honor of her then-husband, who’s middle name was Oscar, after taking home Best Actress in 1936. The first mention of the term in the press was on Dec. 5, 1933 in the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, predating Davis’ win by three years. Academy executive director Margaret Herrick supposedly named the statuette after her “Uncle Oscar” in 1931, while others have credited academy secretary Eleanore Lilleberg. Disney was the first to use the term “Oscar” in an acceptance speech in 1934.

Regardless of the name’s origin, all the facts, pomp and circumstance of the Oscars come rain or shine, are part of the cultural fabric that makes Los Angeles Los Angeles … or rather, that makes Los Angeles Hollywood.

“It’s the premiere event to see celebrities,” Erdal said. “The idea of a movie star is still pretty big and important to millennials and older generations, so when you can see every single movie star in the same room at the same time on the same night, it’s an experience that you don’t get anywhere else.”

Who will win? That’s yet to be seen, but now Angelenos can enjoy the glitz and glamour at the Academy’s home. For tickets and information, visit academymuseum.org/en/programs/detail/oscars-night-2023.