After what has been such an amazing year for West End theatres, it was time for the Olivier Awards again, the most prestigious awards for theatre. That also meant it was time for me and Rachael to head up to London to line the red carpet in hopes of meeting some of the most talented people the UK has to offer. And on the 13th of April 2014, that is exactly what we did, just outside the Royal Opera House, where the awards were once again being held. And it was most definitely a day worth remembering for so many different reasons.
Due to the names announced as nominees, performers and presenters, we made the decision to leave as early as we possibly could to give us a great chance of a great spot along the carpet. We arrived in Covent Garden around half eight and within 10 minutes we were queuing with around another 50 fans and autograph dealers, along the side the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. This year, a number system had been put in place by one of the fans to make sure no one pushed in once we were allowed to head over to the pens. The only problem with this was many people then disappeared for a long periods, which in turn, annoyed many people when they arrived back barely minutes before we moved into the pens along the red carpet. In the end, it didn't make much of difference, as due to the change in layout from last year, every one of those who had got a number and waited a while, which was nearly 200 people (I was number 47), got a spot at the front of the barriers.
In total, Rachael and I waited nearly eight and a half hours for the red carpet to begin and despite being very tired by the time it did, it was still worth it. During the our long wait, I ended up chatting to a crew member from the conventions I like to attend. We had such a great chat, especially about the upcoming London one, which has such a great guest list. Also got talking to another fan, who has seen me at other theatre events and recognised my Harry Potter hoodie! Kirsty ended up much further down the queue but we managed to end up standing together, thanks to me, Rachael and Harriet spreading out the moment we got our place in the pens.
This year, it appears we met far more people than last year, with only one person refusing a photo (well the publicist refused). We were extremely lucky to meet: James Alexandrou, Gok Wan, Barbara Windsor, Arlene Philips, Cynthia Eviro, Leigh Zimmerman, Ben Miller, Diana Vickers, Lesley Garrett, Nigel Planer, Katherine Kingsley, Beverley Knight, Stephen Mangan, Richard Fleeshman, Samantha Barks, Zrinka Cvitesic, James McAvoy, Arthur Darvill, Tom Hiddleston and Martin Freeman, who was the one we were unable to get a photo with. Even better, we have some great little stories for many of those we met!
Meeting Barbara was such an honour and I told her so, which she appreciated. She was just so lovely and yes, she really is that dinky! Think I embarrassed myself in front Arlene as I told her she was my absolute favourite West End choreographer (and she is). I informed Cynthia that myself and my husband would be attending I Can't Sing, the X Factor musical next month on his birthday and she wished him a happy birthday! Plan to get her to do so again as I intend on going to the stage door afterwards as I normally would. I asked Richard flat out if he Samantha Barks was his girlfriend (I swear I had no idea at the time) and he very sweetly told me, yes! Nigel seemed a little shocked I wanted a photo with him and not just of him! And as for my photo with Stephen Mangan, something had made us laugh and I ended up with it being my fave photo.
Zrinka remembered myself, Rachael and Harriet from the What's On Stage Awards and gave us a wave and smile before heading over to us. It was so nice that she remembered us and quickly asked us how we were! Quickly got to tell her I was going to see Once again on Friday for my birthday! Arthur Darvill, who is also currently in Once, was also there and hadn't stopped for anyone until he saw Rachael, at which point he came over and had a photo with her.
James McAvoy walked on with our sharpie. Rachael was literally screaming after him trying to get it back. We never did and I am actually intrigued to find out what happened to it. It is probably in the bin now! Luckily, someone else had a spare one and lent it to Rachael! As for meeting Tom Hiddleston, typically he was trying to get to everyone who was waiting, not that we had much hope we would get to meet him after what happened last year. However, it did happen even after Rachael threatened his publicist that I would kill him! Luckily he knew she was joking! Turns out he chose Rachael as the cut off point for our side, before Tom moved back to the other side! Tom even angled someone's phone so she would in the photo with him, despite posing for a photo with her afterwards!
Sadly, we missed out on quite a few people due to how manic the red carpet was. Alexandra Burke spotted us after we called out to her and promised to come over to us, which she did but sadly after to speaking to Harriet she went up the other way and we never got to meet her! Despite calling to Bernadette Peters, we did not get to meet her either, which upset us a lot as she was a main draw for us this year. Others we missed out on due to either not realizing they were on the carpet or due to them not hearing us call for them. Sadly this is how the red carpet goes, some people you meet, some you do not.
We had such amazing time this year and to come home to find that Zrinka had won best actress was fantastic! We were absolutely shattered afterwards but in our eyes, it was worth it to know we had got ourselves a fab spot which led to us being able to meet all these people! And yes, the moment we left, we all agreed that we are most definitely coming back next year!
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