My year got off to its usual start by attending the last night of the Royal Ballet's production of The Nutcracker, as part of Rachael's 10th birthday celebrations. As always, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it rounded out what had been a great Christmas period for us and helped start off our 2014 in a fantastic way. Sadly, the Royal Ballet is not performing The Nutcracker this year, so we shall be attending a different show for Rachael's birthday. 
January was rounded off by a trip to see Once at the Phoenix Theatre. We had managed to get day seats, paying a low price for premium seats. The show was outstanding and one of a kind, with the actors playing their own instruments rather than relying on an orchestra or band. To add to its' uniqueness, before the show begins and during the interval, a bar opens on stage for the use of the audience. 
February saw the music acts of Series 2 of The Big Reunion perform at the Hammersmith Apollo. This time I had managed to secure a ticket the moment tickets became available, getting a seat downstairs in the stalls. I was most excited by the return of A1, one of my fave bands from my teen years. All the acts were fantastic on stage, with many proving that were good enough to perform live and getting the chance to prove it with this last performance as a band. The surprise act of the evening though had to the supergroup, 5th Story, formed of Gareth Gates, Dane Bowers, Adam Rickett, Kavana and Kenzie. The group was add something amazing to the show and the songs their performed!
February also saw my second trip to the What's On Stage Red Carpet. This year it was at the Prince of Wales theatre, which is really not suitable for this sort of event. However, despite the pushing and the shoving and the absolute no space I had to even breathe, I got meet many theatre stars and was absolutely shocked to be able to meet Rupert Grint and David Walliams. 
The beginning of March saw me, Rachael and Matthew spend two days in Cardiff for Cardiff Film and Comic Con. This was the first time I had two done two days at the convention, purely as there were guests only attending on one of the two days it was open. We had a fabulous time meeting many guests, with my daughter cosplaying for the first time. I finally Danny John Jules, who had cancelled at the last minute at the last convention I had attended and I also got to meet Hannah Spearitt, who was in a band I had loved as a teen, S Club 7. I also threw in an additional surprise for the kids, with tickets to the Doctor Who Exhibition which is located in Cardiff Bay. We had timed it well, with props on show from the most recent Christmas Special (Matt Smith's last episode as the Doctor) and the 50th Anniversary episode. 
April saw my much loved camera break just as I arrived at The O2 Arena to see the Backstreet Boys in concert. Luckily for me, I had my DSLR with me and as I had a seat for the floor seating, I was able to use it! This was the first tour in a few years where the original line up of the band had performed and they were fantastic as always! Loved that the platinum VIPs got to go on stage during a small portion of the show. I even spotted a fan I chat to on Twitter! Their support act was All Saints and they were fantastic live! Hope to see more from the girls in the future.
April also meant Olivier Awards time. This year, I chose to go up even earlier and arrived to find that a number system had been put in place, with me and Rachael being numbers at around 40 something. It meant a great spot once we were allowing into pits. We met so many celebs, though Tom Hiddlestone had to my fave meeting. Rachael threatened his publicist, who luckily thought it was cute and funny, and Tom was just an absolute gentleman to meet! It was also this day that I got to know Kirsty, who is now one of my closest friends!
For my birthday, I went to see Once for a second time on Good Friday. I had purposefully booked after it was announced Arthur Darvill would be taking over the lead role for a limited run. Funnily enough, I had joked at my previous trip to Once, that it would be great if he took over the role as he just recently finished a Broadway run in the same role! Sadly I didn't get to meet him after the show, but was not too disappointed as I had met him at the Oliviers barely a week before.
May saw the closure of two musicals. First was the X Factor inspired musical, I Can't Sing. I was supposed to go on my husband's birthday to see it, but the closure date was about three weeks before. Luckily I was able to refund those tickets so I could pay to book tickets to one of the final performances. The show was fantastic, funny and had a talented cast. Such a shame it had to close, perhaps it will do well on a tour instead.
The second of the shows to close was the long running, We Will Rock You, a musical built around the music by Queen. I had been putting off going to see this for some reason, but the announcement of its closure made me book finally. It was a great show, but with many seats not filled, perhaps this is why it ended up closing. The lead Oliver Tompsett did not perform that night as it turned out he had arrived to find he was booked in for a night off and he had forgotten! I was disappointed but he apologised when I met him a month later. 
June arrived, which meant the beginning of a busy summer for me, kicked off by West End Live. This year, I attended both days, after only attending on the Sundays. It was two beautiful days, full of great company, great shows and music, lots of laughs and painful sunburn! I got the chance to meet Louise Dearman again and the chance to finally meet Oliver Tompsett. I saw the weekend as a chance to preview the shows I had booked to see over the summer, reassuring me I had made the right decision in booking. It also gave me a chance to see a couple of cast members from a number of musicals I would not be getting a chance to see after that weekend! David Hunter of Once and Willenmijn Verkaik of Wicked are the two that spring to mind.
The day after West End Live saw me head to my first show of the summer, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and my first ever time at the Savoy Theatre. On arrival I ended up being upgraded to a different and better seat. The show was fantastic and well cast with Robert Lindsey, Rufus Hound, Katherine Kingsley and Samantha Bond. I only got to meet Samantha Bond at the stage door but she was very kind in letting us know that the cast were having drinks and would not be able to come and see us! So I much appreciate her coming and doing photos and autographs.
The end of June saw me attend a recording for Virtually Famous, hosted by Kevin McHale, best know for Glee. The show was extremely funny, with Seann Walsh ranting about Cat Videos and Pixie Lott ripping sellotape of Chris Stark's face. Throughout I had a nasty headache, but it did not stop me hanging back at the end to meet Kevin. He was kind enough to sign an autograph for Rachael, telling her in it I was the best mum ever!
Beginning of July I attended the London leg of the Tour de France, which involved a long wait for a few minutes of action. Totally worth the experience though! The same evening I saw The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre. I was not sure I was going to like as I am not a fan of South Park. I ended loving it as it is an extremely clever, funny, rude, dirty and over the top show. It is really no surprise that it ended up winning Best New Musical at the Oliviers. I chose to a good time to see as the original leads as I found out after the show, were due to leave the show just two weeks later!
London Film and Comic Con was two days of pure madness and brilliant guests. Along with Matthew and Rachael, I had the honour of being to meet Stan Lee, comic book legend, in his final European convention appearance. I met so many guests from Jenna Coleman to John Hurt, and TJ Thyne to Lena Headey. It was truly an amazing weekend, yet expensive, but worth every penny I spent to meet all these people I so greatly admire and respect.
The end of July, Matthew and I visited Scotland as part of Glasgow 2014, staying in Edinburgh and travelling over to Glasgow to attend the Hockey as part of the Commonwealth Games. While we did not stay as long as the session lasted, we saw a great match, with all the goals being scored directly in front of us, as we were sat behind. We had an amazing time with the Scots being extremely welcoming!
August saw Rachael and I see four musicals over four nights, and us being absolutely shattered as a result. The tickets were brought as part of Kids' Week, with Rachael going free. We saw Wicked, The Pajama Game, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. With four musicals being seen, it meant four trips to the stage door and lots of photos and autographs. We finally got to meet Savnnah Stevenson after missing her twice previously, who was touched that we had been trying to meet her. We finally got to see and meet Michael Xavier in a musical, despite being familiar with him for a couple of years. Les Mis saw an extremely well organised stage door, with someone on hand to make sure cast members stopped for the fans. Phantom of the Opera was a pure magic with me being able to meet a cast member who had been in Sex and the City.
The end of our summer finished with a trip to National Paralympic Day and a chance to meet our fabulous paralympians. This included Jonny Peacock, who apologised for not winning his race at the first London Anniversary Games the year previously after I told him how Mattie had got upset when he lost. We also attended the swimming at the Aquatic Centre for the first official competition since London 2012.
The end of September saw me unexpectedly attend The Saturdays' Wembley gig after securing a great seat for a low price and a chance to meet my friend Jenni. The show was amazing as always, they are always fantastic to see live. I also got meet Marvin and Aston from JLS as they were sat not too far from us.
October was a busy month for me. Starting with seeing Memphis at the Shaftesbury Theatre on the second night of previews. I was absolutely blown away by this phenomenal show, with outstanding performances from Beverley Knight and Killian Donnelly. It has fast become one of my favourite shows in the West End and I hope to see it do well in the upcoming What's On Stage Awards and the Oliviers.
A busy weekend followed, starting with The Big Reunion Boyband tour. 7 boybands from across both series, how can a girl say no to that? I had managed to secure a seat 6 rows from the front through the presale, giving me the most amazing view. I had a fantastic time watching these bands, even with the loss of Abz from 5ive and with Simon from Blue not performing due to his commitment to Strictly Come Dancing. However, it was a great surprise to see Bradley from S Club 7 fill in for Simon!
The next day I was up early for London Film and Comic Con Winter. While a quiet event, I still managed to have a long list of people who I wanted to meet and all guests were amazing. Two stand outs were MC Gainey, who gave me an additional autograph for free, and Mindy Sterling, who is just a fun person to around! Even better though, was being able to meet Alan Ruck, who played Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which is one of my favourite movies!
December saw me back in the West End for my final musical of the year, Cats. This was the first time I saw the show, despite knowing the music well. A surprise came in the form of Nicole Scherzinger, who had been announced as not performing this date on the website. The show was incredible and to all the haters who Nicole was wrong for the role, well you were wrong, because she was phenomenal!
My year ended with a local event in the form of a Homecoming Gig for Ben Haenow in the centre of Croydon. As one of the finalists, he got to come back to his hometown and do a small set. Despite waiting in the cold and rain for three hours, it was absolutely worth it as this boy knows how to perform live! Even better is that he went on to win the series a few days later!Well it was such a busy year for me and so far it is looking no different for 2015! A few musicals are booked in already and my first time at a Glee Convention! It is going to be an exciting year!
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