Los Angeles — The 94th Academy Awards kicked off with Beyoncé, a string of awards handed out off-camera to Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic “Dune” and a trio of Oscars hosts in Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall.

From inside Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, Venus and Serena Williams, whose childhood is dramatized in the Will Smith-led “King Richard,” began the broadcast by introducing Beyoncé. She performed the film’s nominated song, “Be Alive,” in an elaborately choreographed performance from a lime-colored, open-air stage in Compton, where the Williams’ grew up.

“All right, we are here at the Oscars,” began Hall. Sykes finished: “Where movie lovers unite and watch TV.”

Sykes, Schumer and Hall breezily joked through prominent Hollywood issues like pay equity — they said three female hosts were “cheaper than one man” — the Lady Gaga drama Sykes called “House of Random Accents,” the state of the Golden Globes (in the memoriam package) and Leonardo Di Caprio’s girlfriends. Their most pointed political point came at the end of their routine, in which they promised a great night.

“And for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night,” Sykes said.

The first broadcast award went, fittingly, to Ariana DeBose, who became the first openly LGBTQ actor and first Afro-Latina to win best supporting actress. Her win came 60 years after Rita Moreno won for the same role in the 1961 original “West Side Story.” DeBose thanked Moreno for leading the way for “tons of Anitas like me.”