 always the coach was parked inside the closed area at the stage door and we were standing right behind the barrier. Michael got out, all smiles and he was basically oozing happiness. You could tell how relieved he must have been to have won that Olivier. Unfortunately he did not bring it, but left it at home in a prime spot. We really would have loved to see it, but it’s understandable he does not take his awards on tour, although why not? Imagine what the cleaning personnel would think when they get in his room and they’d find his Olivier Award on the bedside table…. maybe not.
There is a small gap between the gates and the wall and it did not take long for the first fans to move onto the restricted zone next to the artiste (not restricted because it’s not generally forbidden to stand next to Michael, but because it really is a no go area). You just should not do it and the security staff does not like it.
As you can tell, we then went to upload the stage door pics, had dinner with lovely friends, which resulted in a necessary quick change for Kerstin in the car park, until we finally got to the venue to find our lovely seats just off centre. Weyhey, for the first time we would not see him sideways. HAPPY!!
The sound wasn’t very good but we have often experienced this in Plymouth. Maybe the hall just cannot handle these sorts of speakers. Very sharp s-sounds and it was very loud but we have had much worse. Plymouth crowd is always a bit of an enigma to us. The front is usually rather quiet while the raised back seems all loud and excitable. We did get up for his entrance and luckily were joined by a few people here and there but the majority around us remained seated. You know sometimes it feels like we are travelling with the same bunch of people, experiencing the same concert just at different venues but not so in Plymouth. Sometimes it gets a bit surreal when you think about it. Always a very different crowd here though, probably because it is so far off the centre of the country. It is a long drive after all. We were surrounded by several less than enthusiastic husbands and fathers who looked at us utterly bewildered when we got up for standing ovations LOL Bless them.
Naturally there was a change in the presentation for the Sweeney medley. He no longer talked about being nominated and what face to pull when you lost the award and the camera was still on you but admitted to being a little bit tired for having been at the Oliviers last night (massive cheers) and Sweeney did rather well. More cheering!
It was a great show and he really seemed relaxed and happy. Here comes Love Changes Everything and we waited with bated breath for the dash to the front (we wouldn’t run along as we were ensconced by non-runners and had perfect view anyways). He neared the money note – nothing. He ended the song – nothing. He left the stage – STILL nothing!! We could only see confused faces and fans hovering on the verge of going but no one daring to make the first move. LOL I bet the band wondered what was going on and it must have looked too funny, all this to-ing and fro-ing, the exchanged looks and shrugging shoulders. FINALLY someone did make the first move after what felt like an hour but must have been a minute and only when the music started again to introduce the encore. It was more of a tentative stroll than a mad dash though. This was the threshold though and soon enough more fans followed but only when he came back onto the stage and invited people to party did it get properly crowded down there and the party time was back to normal.
Wow – what a single tweet can do. Just to clarify: it IS okay to run, just wait until the song is finished.
Another wonderful concert and we had inane grins on our faces whenever we thought of those two Olivier statues sitting where they belong. At long last the anxiety was over.
We waved him good bye and then headed off to Paignton (one hour drive) to be closer to Oxford this morning. Okay, so we got to the wrong Premier Inn when we arrived at midnight…there are three of them here apparently. Who’d have thought it? But finally made it and are now picking up Angela en route. Beware Oxford – Mr Ball is coming to get ya!
After a lovely breakfast in Birmingham we left for London town to witness the most glamorous theatrical event of the year – albeit from the outside. No tickets for us as they were 90 Pounds each and for this you would be sitting up, up, up above the stage in the uppermost circle you can imagine. But naturally we wanted to show support so we arrived at 2pm and positioned ourselves at the beginning of the red carpet where the cars would be stopping…in three hours time.
We were surrounded by theatre maniacs and autograph hunters – felt a bit like a Saturday night post-musical stage door. It was an impressive sight with the whole of the front street of the Royal Opera House covered in a bright red carpet, countless signposts and flags, all bearing the Olivier logo, huge spotlights, two large golden Olivier statues framing the carpet and already a considerable crowd of spectators and press (those with accreditation for the red carpet itself in very glamorous frocks and tuxedos). They also had hired very polite security staff (all in tuxedos of course) who allowed the curious bypassers to take the occasional photo of their loved ones posing on the very beginning of the carpet. It was fun to watch and excitement mounted. Luckily no rain, just icy gusts of wind every now and then which kept the security occupied as they hand-picked white petals from a nearby cherry tree off the carpet all the time. When the first cars started to arrive it was mayhem around us. We got squashed into the barriers surrounding the carpet and people around us where beside themselves with all the celebrities to ogle. We have to admit that we probably only recognized a tiny percentage of them but those were impressive indeed. A very gracious Kim Catrall signed autographs for almost everyone, making polite conversation and looking absolutely dazzling in her bright blue gown. Suddenly Daniel Radlciffe stood in front of us and even when his PA tried to usher him on most urgently he took time for everyone. A very humble and friendly young man. And such talent! We fondly remembered Equus where his performance was outstanding. We also saw James McAvoy, Damian Lewis, Mylene Klaas, Idina Menzel, Matthew Morrison, David Essex, Leigh Zimmerman, ElaiePaige, Louise Dearman, Brian May (who was later to present the award to Michael) and Helen Mirren. Imelda arrived a short while before Michael with her husband and daughter. She was smiles all around and took ages signing autographs and chatting to people. She seemed very relaxed indeed. Michael was among the last few celebs to arrive and did look dashing with Cathy, smiles all around but tense. Through the frenzy of security people and Olivier staff we sadly could not get his attention but he signed a few photos for the waiting crowd.
We entertained the idea of going somewhere warm and comfortable to sit down after our 4-hour wait but then found the screens mounted on Covent Garden Piazza around the corner where the BBC showed the event live (WHY OH WHY not on television??!!). We then could not tear ourselves away from the coverage as we really wanted to be part of all the excitement. They had set up a stage between the two big screens and this was used for live performances from Matilda and Billy Elliott and two presentations (one by Sheridan Smith and one by Hugh Bonneville and Elaine Paige). The atmosphere was great as apparently there were several teams from various theatres out there as well as many drama students etc. Many, many cheers throughout the evening. Sweeney Todd got the loudest of them all whenever it was mentioned. This of course meant another four hours of standing in the cold but what the heck. No one forced us to stay. There was only the briefest of showers but this did not really diminish the masses.
Award ceremonies are really stressfull when you are cheering for specific people. We never fully realized this until this very night. The first three categories where Sweeney was nominated (light, sound, costumes) went by without a win and suddenly we got very anxious. Surely they would give the three big ones to what has to have been the most outstanding production of 2012?! What if they didn’t?! And we knew Michael would have to perform at the end of the ceremony – Olivier or no Olivier. Oh dear, what if, what if?! You can tell we were a bit emotional by then, frozen to the core but only realizing this when attempting to go somewhere for the loos and noticing we couldn’t feel our legs anymore and walking felt quite peculiar indeed.
And then, FINALLY at the very end of the ceremony, it got to the interesting nominations. Best Revival first. God, the WAIT until the winner was announced and then the RELIEF when it was Sweeney and Jonathan Kent. The place erupted with delight. Clearly theatre folk had expected this and was very happy with the outcome. Fan folk agreed wholeheartedly.
We barely had our bearings gathered again from shouting with the best of them when Brian May and Lynda Bellingham took to the stage to present the award for best actor. This felt like hours and watching the faces of the nominees while they waited for their verdict was excruciating. Michael had the vote of the theatre folk around us clearly. But, oh, the