Academy Awards stage will be dressed up in golden 1970s glam

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Oscars are going disco — or at least embracing the gilded glamor of the 1970s.

A fringe of gold and silver sequins dangle over the final stretch of the red carpet, and the stage for Sunday’s show was inspired by the glittery, glam styles of the disco era.

Production designer Derek McLane said the ’70s were on his mind when he was creating the look for the Oscar stage, which will be framed by 20,000 pounds of golden Swarovski crystals.

“I was really influenced by… 1970s glam in this year’s design, so the radiating crystals in the proscenium are definitely part of that,” said McLane, who won an Emmy Award for his design of the 2014 Oscar set. “That was one of my favourite periods of American filmmaking. So many exciting movies were made then. And that sense of high glamor from that period really feels like a certain type of Hollywood that is sexy and glamorous and meets the fantasy of people who dream about what Hollywood is.”

The gold lame look also goes with the Oscars’ theme this year, “We all dream in gold.”

McLane said he’s still waiting for a few more stage elements to be delivered and will be tweaking things until Saturday night’s dress rehearsal.

The 88th Academy Awards (and McLane’s fourth as production designer) will be broadcast Sunday on ABC.