L

GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER
2006 OSCAR NIGHT AMERICA

CHICAGO SOCIAL MAGAZINE: MAY 2006

SCENE IN CHICAGO

And the award goes to......the main attraction: A Joan Rivers

Impersonator (Ellie Weingardt) manned the red carpet...
Ellie greets guests on the red carpet as Joan Rivers at the celebration party.

PIONEER PRESS APRIL 2006

BENEFITS

Film Center Glitters on Oscar Night....In additon to a traditional Hollywood welcome, guests enjoyed numerous entertaining moments with Joan Rivers impersonator Ellie Weingardt...

CHICAGO SOCIAL MAGAZINE MAY 2005 by William Kelly

SOCIAL STUDY: Oscars cast Chicago spell

Hollywood cast its magic spell on the Gene Siskel Film Center on February 27 for Chicago's only Academy-sanctioned Oscar Night party. A stylishly turned out crowd of socialites and power brokers--including Illinois Film Office honcho Brenda Sexton and Hollywood stunt man Kevin Foster--took their turns on the red carpet where they were greeted by Joan Rivers impersonator ELLIE WEINGARDT as flashbulbs popped and spectators looked on.

2004 OSCAR PARTY

You don't have to live in Hollywood to experience the magic and excitement of Oscar Night. Join in the festivities by attending Chicago's only Academy sanctioned Oscar Night® America party at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Sunday, February 29, 2004.

Click photo to enlarge.

Beginning at 7 p.m., the Chicago Academy for the Arts joins the Film Center in welcoming guests for the 76th Annual Academy Awards® presentation with Klieg lights, a red carpet . . . and Joan Rivers impersonator Ellie Weingardt! Enjoy complimentary beer, wine, champagne, a light buffet, and spectacular silent auction packages.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Lucinda Hahn, March 2004
Hollywood glamor lights State Street
Klieg lights, a 5-foot-long red carpet, and glammed-up guests brought a glimmer of Hollywood to State Street's Gene Siskel Film Center, which held its Oscar Night America Party on Sunday. Joan Rivers impersonator Ellie Weingart joked with the glitziest guests (suggested dress code: "Awards Glam"). Inside, some 300 film buffs watched the show in the center's two theaters. Proceeds benefited education at the film center and also Chicago Academy of Arts' scholarship fund.

PIONEER PRESS April 2004
Film Center party raises $45,000
Three hundred guests came to the Oscar Night America - Chicago celebration the evening of Feb. 29 at the Gen Siskel Film Center on State Street. A Red carpet and klieg lights greeted the throng, some of whom were decked out in Hollywood-style gowns, complete with feather boas. Ellie Weingardt of Highland park did her incomparable impersonation of Joan Rivers, and guests received the same Oscar program as those who were attending the presentation at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Joan Rivers impersonator Ellie Weingardt (right) with Betty Brown. "I want to tell you about my dress," Weingardt said. "It's a Oscar de la Yenta."

Karen Cross Durham of the Film Center staff clowns around with Ellie Weingardt a.k.a. Joan Rivers.