Still, for some it was an unforgettable experience.
BLAIR UNDERWOOD:I was doingL.A.
Lawat the time, and Holly Robinson Peete asked me if I wanted to be a part of it.
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage
It was an opportunity to be on the Academy Awards stage.
I may never make it back, so why not?
As soon as I landed, Kenny Ortega reached out.
Courtesy of AMPAS
We did a thing onOprah.I was doing dances fromHairspray.He was there forDirty Dancing.We met and became friends.
KEITH COOGAN:I had done a morning appearance onA.M.
Los Angelesto promoteCousins,the Joel Schumacher film with Ted Danson.
Courtesy of AMPAS
InCousinsI had a dance sequence with Lloyd Bridges where I wound up doing the splits.
I was through the roof.
It was a great time in my life.
I was dating Drew Barrymore.
JOELY FISHER:There may have been some haters who said they didn’t recognize any of the people.
All I could think of is “Who gives a s?
I’m gonna be dancing and singing on the Oscars.”
So he tailored the number to fit everyone’s strengths.
Chad Lowe, for example, spoke his solo, and Feldman re-created Michael Jackson’s dance moves.
There was also ballet from Tracy Nelson, tap from Savion Glover, and fencing with Coogan and Slater.
LAKE:Going to rehearsal was like summer camp.
I was completely in love with Patrick Dempsey.
It was like landing in Hollywood and being in the cool club.
COOGAN:I had some practice in martial arts so I felt very comfortable with fencing.
Michael and I have been friends for many years, I’ve learned a lot from him.
So pretty much most of what Michael can do, I can do too."
UNDERWOOD:I performed at Busch Gardens [theme park] for two summers during college.
FELDMAN:At dress rehearsal, Sammy Davis Jr. walked in.
He wasn’t even in the show.
He just decided to come visit everybody.
He worked the room!
“Hey, babe, how you doin', love ya, love ya.”
LAKE:I remember not being able to find something to wear because I was so big.
I also wore a hat because I was big on hats then.
FISHER:When the curtains went up, the first face I saw was Melanie Griffith.
She was in this white puffy cloud of a dress.
COOGAN:I’m sad that Carrie Hamilton [who died in 2002] is no longer with us.
She had done it in rehearsal, but I thought it was too good.
So, Carrie, I want to acknowledge that I stole your joke.
LAKE:Afterwards I went to this backstage room.
I was sitting next to Meg Ryan and Winona Ryder and I see a guy looking at me.
He pulls me over and he introduces me to Dustin Hoffman.
I was, like, fainting.
FISHER:The greatest part of the story for me is that Oscars are always during pilot season.
They didn’t know who they wanted yet for a role inMulberry Street,which wasMoonstruckfor television.
They brought me in the next day, and I got the job.
UNDERWOOD:I haven’t been nominated yet, so I don’t know what to tell you.
COOGAN:What an amazing, weird, and unique thing it was.
But it didn’t matter.
It was like a dream come true that I could never have dreamt up.
If I had to do it over again I would do it in a heartbeat.
