What's On Stage Awards - February 2014

Red Carpet Season is here, which means for me and Rachael a trip up London for the What's On Stage Awards. This year they were held at the Prince of Wales Theatre, currently home to Book of Mormon.

We ended up arriving a full five hours before anyone was due to arrive but we were the first there meaning we were able to get a prime spot. The number of fans waiting swelled quicker than it had the year before, causing havoc before the first star stepped out of a car. People were told to move to the point they ended up standing on the road and I am amazed no one got run over even with buses going past!

I am not going to do a long blog this time. Just going to note some a couple of good parts and then all photos. First up, celebs we met, but did not get a photo with Rosalie Craig and Daniel Mays. Very annoyed it took till after I had met him to realise Daniel has been in Doctor Who, otherwise I would had got a photo. Next, very grateful to Louise Dearman, stopping and remembering us! Both her and Lauren Samuels were worried about their new hair cuts but both look amazing and that they appreciated. We also had a good giggle about the fact there was no red carpet despite being a red carpet event! Also appreciate each and every celeb who stopped for us and the fact they were so nice especially to Rachael, especially Rupert Grint, who came back to us so Rachael could also have a photo.

With Leigh Zimmerman

With Louise Dearman, my favourite musical theatre actress

With Lauren Samuels

With Daniel Boys

With Gavin Creel

With Alex Gaumond

With Alexia Khadime

With Carrie Hope Fletcher

With Zrinka Cvitesic

With David Walliams

With Rupert Grint

The Big Reunion - February 2014

After the huge success of last year's series of the Big Reunion, it was really no surprise when it was announced a second series had been commissioned. The obvious problem was whether they could follow it up with more amazing acts!

At the end of December, the answer came and six acts were announced, much to my excitement. Announced were Eternal, A1, Damage, Girl Thing, 3T and newly formed boyband (though I feel manband is more appropriate), 5th Story, formed of Dane Bowers, Adam Rickett, Kenzie, Kavana and Gareth Gates.

The moment the tickets went on sale, after the first episode had aired, I was straight on booking my ticket. Desperate not to repeat having to stand on my tip toes like last year, I went for the stalls and ended up 19 rows from the front! Admittedly, had I got tickets for the circle, I would had been able to meet a few celebs who were sat up there, including some of the acts from last year. But it didn't bother me too much, as opportunities may arise for me to meet them and I wanted a decent seat more than anything this year!

The format for show was changed slightly for this year's gig at Hammersmith. Andi Peters still introduced the show, the acts took in turn to perform and the video clips played between each act. However this year, we got a 20 minute interval, to allow for costume changes and the acts got to sing a minimum of four songs each. I have to say the changes worked well and improved the quality and running of the show.

A1 opened the show with their number one hit, Take On Me. The boys were without Paul, but quite honestly, it made no difference as the boys sounded fantastic as always, with Christian and Ben taking over Paul's vocals. Their second song was Caught In The Middle, which they performed with instruments. I was so glad to see they were able to do this and it was great to see Mark get behind his keyboard and Christian giving it his all on his guitar. For the final set of the show, the boys performed Everytime, which I have to say I did not expect, especially the great list of songs they have to choose from. I also noticed with the absence with Paul, the vocals for this song for changed round quite a bit, but it sounded better the recording! The final song was Same Old Brand New You, which was led in with a great joke about their dancing! A1 were definitely my fave act of the night, having been a fan since they lost out to Westlife (or Westside as they were known  then) in the Smash Hits Polls Winner Party Tour Act Award.

Next act was Eternal. Now being that my brother was more the fan than I was up when we were kids, I have to admit, I can only name three out of the five songs they sung. The songs I can remember are Stay, Power of a Woman and I Wanna Be The Only One. I think one of the other two is called Don't You Love Me No More. Either way, these girls have still got it. Esther's voice, especially, was outstanding, definitely providing the best vocal performance of the night. The best part of their performances was when Bebe Winans joined them onstage for their final song, I Wanna Be The Only One. I have to admit this was never a fave of mine, but that night I loved it! Bebe and Esther gave one hell of performance! It was also nice to see the way the girls interacted on stage, proving it is possible to put the past behind you and just get back to enjoying the music.

Next up was new manband (definitely sounds better to me), 5th Story. I have to say I was intrigued by the choice of singers and it was simply one of those ideas that was either going to crash and burn or be amazing. Luckily for the boys, it definitely turned out to be amazing. Throughout the night, they performed 6 songs (with two being done as a medley). They started with a song from Dane's former band, Another Level, Freak Me. Excellent choice as it got the crowd screaming. I was fan of the song the first time round, but they managed to make it better, with Kenzie taking on some of the verses and the harmonies were so much stronger, especially with Gareth and Kavana's voices! They also performed Kavana's I Can Make You Feel Good, Adam's Breathe Again (again improved, with Kenzie taking on the bridge and the additional voices for the chorus), Gareth's Spirit in the Sky (which was the closing number and a good choice at that) and a medley of Blazing Squad's Crossroads and Flip Reverse It, which again sounded amazing with the stronger harmonies. If these guys choose to make a go of a career as this lineup, I think they could potentially make it with the right songs and right promotion, but they definitely have a fan here!

Damage were the next band to take the stage. I have to admit I forgot how much I loved them and just how gorgeous their vocals were. They definitely had the tightest vocals and harmonies of the night. They started with Ghetto Romance, and also performed Wonderful Tonight, Forever and Love II Love. They were also a member down with Corey having refused to be a part of the reunion, though he did take part in the interview portion of their episode, but again I hardly noticed him not there. Jade's fiancee, Emma Bunton, was there, sat in the middle of the front of the circle and every time the boys were on stage, she was up on her feet dancing, singing along and cheering for them. She is definitely been a huge supporter of Damage's reunion and that is something great to see.

Girl Thing were next up. I was definitely worried how the crowd would react with many people having claimed on Twitter not to know who they are, but there was definitely a lot of love for them. I do remember liking them the first time and being a huge fan of their first single. It really is a shame that they never got to have a better career. They performed Last One Standing, Girls On Top, Pure and Simple and Roar. Pure and Simple was their chance to show everyone what they could do with the song that was originally theirs and they sung it beautifully. Roar was performed due to them not having been able to release their album over here till just this year, but it really gave them a chance to show the crowd what they were capable of vocally. I have to admit I don't expect them to continue, but if they do I shall be supporting them, especially as I determined to get my daughter into their music!

Final act to take the stage for their first song was 3T. The response was much bigger than I was expecting to the point the screams were deafening! I have to admit I only really knew two of the songs they performed, Anything (which I love) and Why (a duet with Michael Jackson). Couldn't name the other songs if you asked me! However, these guys did a fab job and it was beautiful to see them pay tribute to their Uncle, the great late Michael Jackson. The tribute was well received by the crowds. Really hope that despite every bad thing that seems to hang the Jackson Clan finally lifts to allow these boys to get back to what was once a great career.

Overall, the show was fantastic as were all the bands. I do hope they get to do a tour like last year's act, though whether I go remains to be seen.  But with the announcement that there WILL be a third series, chances are I will definitely be back for the Hammersmith gig next year!

Once the Musical - January 2014

I have to admit I have been in two minds about going to see the show since it opened. To be honest I am not sure why, I think perhaps because it is not your typical musical, considering the entire cast plays instruments on stage, without support from an orchestra. Yesterday, I finally decided it was time to go and see it with Rachael and our friend, Harriet. We decided against booking in advance due to costs and instead go for Day Seats. We arrived 9:30am, about half an hour before the box office was due to open. While there was a queue, we were able to secure three seats for the matinee show. The great thing about day seats is that they are inexpensive (in this case £25) and great seats (for us, Row D in the stalls). Definitely something worth considering if you love the theatre but cannot always afford to go.

We arrived back at the Phoenix Theatre about half an hour before the show was due to begin. I had been to the theatre before, around 15 years previously to see Blood Brothers, but I had forgotten just how small the theatre is. The size, however, was perfect for an intimate setting in which a show like Once deserves and needs. The theatre actually opens 90 minutes before the show as the bar on stage is in fact a working bar, where the audience can relax and have a drink before the show and during the interval. It was absolutely packed when we arrived, so we chose to wait till the interval and instead enjoy the pre-show, where the cast come on stage and play a few songs not part of the show. Once the audience has left the stage, they go straight into the show with the house lights coming down slowly in the middle of the first official song.

The show itself is absolutely fantastic and I definitely want to go again after the cast change in March. The stage set is basically just a bar, with the walls covered in mirrors. You have to imagine the different settings they are in, but it means the songs stand out without the need for big set changes. The mirrors, for me, are such a clever piece of stage design as it allows you see things you would perhaps miss otherwise. You can see all the instruments being played when the cast member is not facing you. The cast are all ridiculously talented, not just acting, singing and dancing but playing their own instruments as well. This element makes this musical so unique and makes it stand out amongst every other musical currently playing in the West End.

One of the biggest stand out parts of the show for me, was the well written lead characters, only known as Guy and Girl, with no given names and the actors who were cast in the roles. Declan Bennett and Zrinka Cvitesic were fantastic and sung every song so beautifully. Zrinka's character I absolutely loved as you rarely get to see a female part in which they are so bold and blunt on stage. The pair also a great chemistry, something which is really needed in this show! Their duet on Falling Slowly was stunning and one of the highlights of the show. The show was so fantastic that the cast were given three standing ovations!

After the show, we went round to the stage door to meet the cast. Sadly we did not get to meet Declan and Zrinka this time, but as they are nominated for What's On Stage Awards, we are hoping we will get to see them there instead. However, we did get to meet Valda Aviks (Baruska), Ryan Fletcher (Svee), Aidan Kelly (Billy), Gareth O'Connor (Eamon), Michael O'Connor (Da) and Jos Slovick (Andrej). Aidan even apologised to Rachael for the swearing but we told him we had heard far worse when we saw Billy Elliott!

Having now seen the show, I am hoping it does well in the upcoming What's On Stage Awards and Oliviers! So if you haven't seen it, go and see it!

The Nutcracker - January 2014

First outing of the year again was to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to see the Royal Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. Again it was the final night and it coincided with Rachael's birthday. Like I said last year, I was looking to make it a yearly tradition and we have indeed continued with it and intend to do so next year.

The worse thing about booking is that you then have to wait what feels like forever before you even get to go and see the production. When booking, I decided to stick to where we sat last year due to the low pricing. At £10 per ticket, even with the restricted view, it is completely worth the money. Though I have to admit, it still makes my stomach flip when I look down at the people below because of how high up we are.

We had arrived in London early, so I could treat Rachael to McDonalds, have a look round the shops in Covent Gardens and allow me the chance to get a few shots of London at night. Probably not the best decision due to the fact, it ending up costing me a fortune! In the ROH shop, I ended spending nearly £30 on merchandise, including £10 on a miniatue, working Nutcracker. I ended making Rachael promise me she would allow me to take the cost of that and the toy she brought in the Disney Store out of any birthday money she got! I did make sure to include a CD of music from the Nutcracker for myself, as I used to own a cassette tape of the music. This prompted Rachael to ask me what a cassette player was!

As always the Royal Ballet's production of The Nutcracker was amazing, beautiful and performed such talented and graceful ballet dancers. I have to make special mentions for two of the artists performing in lead roles, Yuhui Choe and Leanne Cope, who danced their parts of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara, absolutely beautifully and so gracefully. Yuhui Choe is currently a First Soloist with the Royal Ballet, but the way she performed the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy was elegant, that I feel it was high time she was promoted to a Principal. Leanne Cope is current a First Artist, a role within the Royal Ballet which generally does not provide many opportunities for lead roles, and she took the chance to shine and she shone and I feel like it was time for her to be promoted to Soloist to gives the audience more chances to see her perform in solo roles.

Seeing The Nutcracker last night was a great start to the year and a great end for the Christmas period and I absolutely look forward to returning to see it next year!

A Year in Review: 2013

After 2012 was amazing year for me, I had to wonder if 2013 could remotely live up to it. I have to admit at the beginning of the year, I did not think it would as I did not have very much planned. Luckily it turned out to a fabulous year with some unexpected surprises!

2013 started off the same way 2012 did and how 2014 will be starting out as well, with a trip to the Royal Opera House to see the Royal Ballet's final performance for the season of The Nutcracker. This time, however, it was for Rachael's 9th birthday and she will attending for her 10th birthday in a couple of weeks. We had very different seats this time, but despite the higher seats, we had a clearer view. Such an enjoyable ballet to see and the perfect end to the Christmas period. I am looking forward to seeing it again this month.

A few days later, Rachael and I were back in London, trudging through the snow, for the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition had a wide variety of costumes from different movies such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Wizard of Oz. It was definitely a fascinating exhibition and to see the detail put into these costume, even if not all of it will be on screen, was an amazing opportunity.

February led to the first of our many opportunities to meet celebs and a brand new friendship. Rachael and I attended our first Red Carpet event together, the What's On Stage Awards at the Palace Theatre. Arriving early led to us meeting the fabulous Harriet, who we have become fast friends with and share fab theatre experiences with! The red carpet event also kick started us meeting many Harry Potter cast members this year through meeting Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in the film series. We also got the opportunity to hold a London 2012 Olympic Gold Medal, thanks to Peter Wilson, who offered Rachael the chance to wear it without us needing to even ask!

The end of February ended with me attending what was meant to be a one off gig at the Hammersmith Apollo for the Big Reunion. It ended up leading to two major tours, neither of which I attended. But this gig was fantastic and the atmosphere was electric! Despite being sat at the back and spending a good bulk of the gig on my tip toes (it does suck being short), I had an amazing time, getting to relive my teen years through bands I genuinely loved and still do! The acts for the next series were recently announced so do hope to be able to attend the gig if one is happening this time round.

The beginning of March started with the last chance to see Girls Aloud on tour for the final time. Despite having booked in the presale, I still ended up with seats near the back! But it didn't matter as there was a B Stage located near our seats. The show was a fantastic end to their time together, singing all the big hits from the career with a few new ones from the final album and as normal, one fab cover! It is shame they are no longer together because they have always put on great live shows. The one thing I will remember about them, their gig (not this one obviously) was the first time I had attended the O2 after it became a music venue!

The following week, it was time to experience Symphonic Cinema was the first time. We attended the Royal Albert Hall to see this experience for Singin' In The Rain, one of my favourite movies. Gene Kelly's wife Patricia Ward Kelly introduced the film and told us little known stories from the shooting of the film. Watching the film with a live orchestra was absolutely brilliant and fascinating and hopefully it is something I will be able to experience soon with other films.


April led to our first of five West End Shows we would see, starting with Potted Potter, a must see for all Harry Potter fans. All 7 books are told in 70 minutes and in a very funny way. I was laughing all the way through the show especially when a girl literally tackled one of the stars hard onto the floor!


Two weeks later, we were at the Oliviers Red Carpet event and while there was a lot of waiting around due to the time we arrived, it was worth the wait as we got to meet one of our all time favourite musical theatre actresses, Idina Menzel and Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. We are still unbelievably grateful to the woman who spotted us and got him to come over! It also led to another friendship, through a fabulous Warblers costume, our friend Tim! We also met so many other stars and cannot wait to attend again this year, come rain or shine. We hoping that Rupert Grint will attending this year, who will have just finished performing in his debut show on the West End!

May was our quiet month, with no major events except our annual family holiday. The day after we arrived home led to what quite literally a month of madness and completely unexpected celeb meets which would have never had dreamed of. June started though, with unexpected trip to the Royal Albert Hall for Coronation Classics after my in laws were unable to attend. I had promised Rachael for a while to take her to something like this, but had never got round to it as quite honestly it was not my sort of thing. But as it turns out, I actually quite enjoyed it and definitely plan to try and go to something like this again.


A couple of weeks later came the unexpected surprise, the chance to meet Chris Colfer. Despite arriving early Sunday morning, we discovered what was a ridiculously long queue, with people at the front having queued since Saturday lunchtime. Despite what turned into a stupidly long wait, we met loads of fab people and had a great time while we waited. And while our encounter with Chris probably only lasted around a minute, it was worth the wait to have met him as he was a great guy to meet. Hopefully next time he is over, I might get the opportunity to get a photo with him!

The end of June was all about the gorgeous Matthew Morrison! Thanks to a birthday present I was able to book a VIP package for a small gig he was playing at Bush Hall! This meant a front row seat and then a chance to meet him afterwards. I also got to meet Brad Ellis who had played the piano for him that night and is the piano player and song arranger on Glee. I also got to meet him at his CD signing the next day along with Rachael and Tim and again two days later at West End Live, where he actually remembered me and Rachael! West End Live was fab as always, though unfortunately most of the musicals we wanted to see had played on the Saturday, than on the Sunday this year!

July came along, which meant the first of three conventions for me and Mattie. This was one of the best we had been to as we got to meet Eve Myles, Joe Dempsie, Dan Starkey, Danny Glover and David Hasslehoff among others. Mattie thought David was brilliant, but purely cos he had been in the Spongebob movie! But more on that in a bit.

July ended with us back at Olympic Stadium for the Anniversary Games to celebrate the achievements of our Paralympians. Mattie loved every minute of it and was cheering very loudly every time he saw someone from Team GB compete! It was even more amazing to be there to see David Weir absolutely demolish the competition in his race!


August was our theatre month with three trips into the West End for shows in just four days! First up, Dirty Dancing, a show I had been putting off for a while as I didn't think it would translate all that well to stage! It was amazing and they kept the lift in!!! Two days later, it was time for our yearly visit to see Wicked. We had been looking for this before we had even booked it as Louise Dearman (Rachael's first Glinda) was now playing the part of Elphaba and she was phenomenal! The next night it was Top Hat! The show was fantastic and the sets and costumes were outstanding. After each of the shows, we went to the stage door and met the cast members and this time I made sure I got photos with everyone rather than with just Rachael!

The end of August saw Rachael, Mattie and me make the trip to Cardiff for their first ever comic con. We had a fab time, exploring Cardiff, discovering the infamous dedicated wall for Ianto (Torchwood fans will understand) and even more fab time at the convention. We got meet David Hasslehoff again, this time for autograph and we got an extra couple of them on special small photos from the Spongebob movie, making two very happy kids! We also got to meet Kai Owen, K9, Chris Rankin and Brian Blessed among others! We are heading back there in March for this year's convention and intend to do the Doctor Who Experience while we are there.

The weekend after it was back to Olympic Park for National Paralympic Day which gave us an opportunity to meet the Paralympians who we had supported and who had inspired us during that amazing summer. Mattie and I discovered this amazing tent which I can only describe as a huge sensory tent, which Mattie did not want to leave! I also managed to embarrass my husband by telling Hannah Cockcroft that my husband fancied her! Not sure how that is possible when he was not with me that day! We will definitely be attending again though if this becomes a regular thing!

It was beginning of October before the next event which was London Film and Comic Con part 2! This was a smaller trip for us as lack of money prevented any major meets. However we did get to meet 5 Doctor Who cast members, Bonnie Langford (who in turn managed to convince me to book tickets to see Spamalot), Paul McGann (the 8th Doctor), Noel Clarke, Neve McIntosh (who sung Happy Birthday to Mattie) and Andrew Hayden Smith. They are definitely some of the best guests we have ever met, all so enthusiastic. All guests need to be like them!

Two days later, I was back at The O2, for a long awaited concert, Bruno Mars. Again, presale had given me seats at the back (presales seem to suck this past year) and Rachael tagged along. Was not too impressed at the very long set that support act had, but was very happy once Bruno took the stage. Turned out it was his birthday as well, so the band got the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to him! Not the sort of thing a fan gets to experience very often! His show was brilliant and he is definitely a must see live act!

October was rounded off by my final trip to the West End along with Tim to see Spamalot after being convinced to book by Bonnie Langford. Being someone who is not a fan of Monty Python, I had been dubious about seeing it, but it was ridiculously hilarious and my god, Bonnie is most definitely a triple threat! After the show, we met Bonnie and Les Dennis, though one fan tried to ruin the experience by being rude to Les! But everyone should go and see Spamalot, it is the funniest show on the West End right now! I even planned to go back and see it but this time with my husband!

November saw my first ever celebrity football match, Sellebrity at Selhurst Park. Definitely something worth doing as the celebs playing do make you laugh, whether it is attempting to join in with the cheerleaders or just mucking about on the playing field! But at the end of the match, the majority of them went along the stand signing autographs and having photos! Danny Jones from McFly pulled a great face when he had a photo with Rachael!

Final event of the year was not until the end of December when I attending the Homecoming gig for Rough Copy and Hannah Barrett, live finalist of the X Factor who all hail from Croydon. The show was fantastic and great way to give back to the fans of Croydon who have supported them throughout the series! I also got to meet them after the show, in a free meet and greet for 100 lucky fans! Hopefully both acts will go on to do well in the music industry!


2013 was fantastic and I fully intend for 2014 to be the same. Trips to see The Nutcracker and the Backstreet Boys are already booked. I have 3, maybe 4 conventions I hope to go to. I am off to Glasgow in August for the Commonwealth Games, plus loads of things hopefully planned for trips to the West End! So stay tuned!