I feel like a celebrity!!!
Walking into the foyer of the Prince of Wales theatre in central London on Sunday night was such a surreal experience! The sheer number of people surrounding the theatre was crazy! And the Paps! I've not seen anything like it in real life! I mean I've watched the videos of Britney and other celebs being followed by people with big lenses, and I've watched several series of Big Brother where housemates get snapped as they walk out of the house, but I've never seen so many of them, so up close and personal as I did at the weekend! I liked it!
The reason that half of London and the press were waiting outside of the theatre on a cold, miserable Sunday night was to see their favorite stars and celebs entering to watch the Whatsonstage.com awards show. They are the only theatre awards show voted for by the public, who can pay for a ticket and go and watch them being presented inside - the only one of its kind that I'm aware of in the UK.
And so into the theatre we went along with 1130 other people including many a celeb including Eddie Izzard, Sheila Hancock, Suzanne Shaw, Connie Fisher and lots of actors, directors, producers and general bodies from the theatrical world. James Corden and Sheriden Smith were presenting the awards.
I was slightly disappointed to learn that the cast of Spring Awakening weren't going to be performing as advertised and that no one else was going to be filling in their place. I still enjoyed the show however and was mesmerised during many of the performances. Two of the girls from "I'd do Anything" kicked off the proceedings along with Niki Evans who was in X-Factor last year and is now staring as Mrs. Johnstone in Blood Brothers. They sang 9 to 5 quite adequately but weren't the highlight of the evening in my opinion. It was a nice start though!
The awards were given out sporadically throughout the evening between performances which was good. I liked the fact that they were spaced out so that it didn't ever get tiresome or boring. I didn't like the fact that the awards were announced in lots of different ways e.g. James would say something like "Wow that Jersey Boys has been nominated alot - and it's won Best Actor". I like the formalities of award shows were they mention the award, read out the nominees and then the winner. It means that there is a build up of anticipation.. and that was duly lacking on Sunday night. Having said that, James and Sheridan were very good hosts. They were funny throughout, if sometimes bordering on rude (especially to Lee Mead, Daniel Boys and the poor crew member he continuously beat on!).
As it isn't that often that I get a chance to come to London to see most of the plays and musicals, I wasnt rooting for one particular show to do well. I was pleased to see the Donmar get so many awards because I've heard that the quality of their shows is second to none. I expected Jersey Boys to win everything it was nominated in purely because it was the biggest show up in the categories it was in. The only show I wanted to do well was a small show which was nominated in the Best Regional Production. I work as an usher at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatre in Liverpool and so had seen one of the plays nominated in this category around 10 times and absoloutely loved it! I was thrilled to hear it was nominated at the WhatsonStage awards! It didn't have a chance of winning however seeing that it was up against the David Tennant/Patrick Stewart version of Hamlet from Statford! I was extremely happy to hear that 2 of the stars - Tom Oakley and Julie Atherton would be singing some of the songs from the show - Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi!
I don't think that many people in the audience had heard either songs which were performed from the show, but that fact didn't come across at the end of the performance when they received a huge round of applause. I love Julie Atherton - her voice is crystal clear and so strong! And she sang probably my favorite song from the show - "Just the next 10 seconds". Tom Oakley was ok - nothing special (I'll be honest) but it was nice to hear to "cheesy showtune" song sung live for probably the last time!
The rest of the performances were hit and miss really. There was a medley of Broadway songs performed at the beginning of the 2nd act of the awards show. Jimmy Johnston sang a beautiful song from Shrew the musical that touched everyone in the audience! The emotions and the sentiment washed over the audience so that the majority of people were affected! Kim Criswell sang a wonderful song from The Little Mermaid. Her powerful voice pushed you back against your seat and the her army of male dancers had everyone laughing with their fishy choreography! Bend and Snap from Legally Blonde on the otherhand had everyone wishing that they could bend and snap the writers and performers of that song! It was awful! The mics were turned up way too loud on Leila Benn Harris and Ramin Karimloo for their version of "When You're Gone" from In The Heights. I was so looking forward to hearing Ramin as well but was disappointed because I couldn't really distinguish the words. Elena Rogers and the cast of Jersey Boys were definately the highlights of the show! The Jersey Boys medley had lots of people up on their feet! It was wonderful but one feels like they may have given too much! I don't feel I can justify paying £60 to go and see the show when I have paid £15 for a medley of the best bits from the best songs! They were incredible!
The show was definately a highlight of my year so far and I will definately go back next year! Just to be sitting in the same room and sharing the same bar as all the celebs was an ego boost! I loved it! And it was all in aid of charity which was probably the best part!
Walking into the foyer of the Prince of Wales theatre in central London on Sunday night was such a surreal experience! The sheer number of people surrounding the theatre was crazy! And the Paps! I've not seen anything like it in real life! I mean I've watched the videos of Britney and other celebs being followed by people with big lenses, and I've watched several series of Big Brother where housemates get snapped as they walk out of the house, but I've never seen so many of them, so up close and personal as I did at the weekend! I liked it!
The reason that half of London and the press were waiting outside of the theatre on a cold, miserable Sunday night was to see their favorite stars and celebs entering to watch the Whatsonstage.com awards show. They are the only theatre awards show voted for by the public, who can pay for a ticket and go and watch them being presented inside - the only one of its kind that I'm aware of in the UK.
And so into the theatre we went along with 1130 other people including many a celeb including Eddie Izzard, Sheila Hancock, Suzanne Shaw, Connie Fisher and lots of actors, directors, producers and general bodies from the theatrical world. James Corden and Sheriden Smith were presenting the awards.
I was slightly disappointed to learn that the cast of Spring Awakening weren't going to be performing as advertised and that no one else was going to be filling in their place. I still enjoyed the show however and was mesmerised during many of the performances. Two of the girls from "I'd do Anything" kicked off the proceedings along with Niki Evans who was in X-Factor last year and is now staring as Mrs. Johnstone in Blood Brothers. They sang 9 to 5 quite adequately but weren't the highlight of the evening in my opinion. It was a nice start though!
The awards were given out sporadically throughout the evening between performances which was good. I liked the fact that they were spaced out so that it didn't ever get tiresome or boring. I didn't like the fact that the awards were announced in lots of different ways e.g. James would say something like "Wow that Jersey Boys has been nominated alot - and it's won Best Actor". I like the formalities of award shows were they mention the award, read out the nominees and then the winner. It means that there is a build up of anticipation.. and that was duly lacking on Sunday night. Having said that, James and Sheridan were very good hosts. They were funny throughout, if sometimes bordering on rude (especially to Lee Mead, Daniel Boys and the poor crew member he continuously beat on!).
As it isn't that often that I get a chance to come to London to see most of the plays and musicals, I wasnt rooting for one particular show to do well. I was pleased to see the Donmar get so many awards because I've heard that the quality of their shows is second to none. I expected Jersey Boys to win everything it was nominated in purely because it was the biggest show up in the categories it was in. The only show I wanted to do well was a small show which was nominated in the Best Regional Production. I work as an usher at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatre in Liverpool and so had seen one of the plays nominated in this category around 10 times and absoloutely loved it! I was thrilled to hear it was nominated at the WhatsonStage awards! It didn't have a chance of winning however seeing that it was up against the David Tennant/Patrick Stewart version of Hamlet from Statford! I was extremely happy to hear that 2 of the stars - Tom Oakley and Julie Atherton would be singing some of the songs from the show - Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi!
I don't think that many people in the audience had heard either songs which were performed from the show, but that fact didn't come across at the end of the performance when they received a huge round of applause. I love Julie Atherton - her voice is crystal clear and so strong! And she sang probably my favorite song from the show - "Just the next 10 seconds". Tom Oakley was ok - nothing special (I'll be honest) but it was nice to hear to "cheesy showtune" song sung live for probably the last time!
The rest of the performances were hit and miss really. There was a medley of Broadway songs performed at the beginning of the 2nd act of the awards show. Jimmy Johnston sang a beautiful song from Shrew the musical that touched everyone in the audience! The emotions and the sentiment washed over the audience so that the majority of people were affected! Kim Criswell sang a wonderful song from The Little Mermaid. Her powerful voice pushed you back against your seat and the her army of male dancers had everyone laughing with their fishy choreography! Bend and Snap from Legally Blonde on the otherhand had everyone wishing that they could bend and snap the writers and performers of that song! It was awful! The mics were turned up way too loud on Leila Benn Harris and Ramin Karimloo for their version of "When You're Gone" from In The Heights. I was so looking forward to hearing Ramin as well but was disappointed because I couldn't really distinguish the words. Elena Rogers and the cast of Jersey Boys were definately the highlights of the show! The Jersey Boys medley had lots of people up on their feet! It was wonderful but one feels like they may have given too much! I don't feel I can justify paying £60 to go and see the show when I have paid £15 for a medley of the best bits from the best songs! They were incredible!
The show was definately a highlight of my year so far and I will definately go back next year! Just to be sitting in the same room and sharing the same bar as all the celebs was an ego boost! I loved it! And it was all in aid of charity which was probably the best part!
This is xXAngelofMusicXx from WOS btw :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that I prefer the formality of awards ceremonies but it was a damn good laugh :)
You worked the FOH at Once upon a time at the Adelphi? I'd never heard any of that before and thought it was brilliant! Couldn't understand so much of what a lot of the singers were actually saying though (the whole show, not just Julie and Tom).
Was it from 'Shrew' the musical? That would be interesting :P lol. I thought that was amazing too, frankly most of the songs from the Great White Way didn't impress me. I totally agree with you on Ramin which was disappointing.
You can get cheaper tickets for Jersey Boys on the day I think, do that ;)
What did you think of who won? I was really pleased at the 'donmar section of the show' lol, but some things which was just obvious public mass celebrity voting for things like Into the Hoods...grrrr...but that's the way it goes I guess.
In the way of feedback, it's a brilliant blog! I know I thought of something that needed to be improved when I first clicked on your blog but now I've read it I've forgotten it lol, so yeah brill :) If I had to say something, it would be that perhaps you write too much which means readers might not bother reading everything, shows what an effort you put in tho :) xxx
Hey, just read your review. I'm from Liverpool too and saw Adelphi several times and was there on Sunday for the awards also.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything about Julie - she's a pure inspiration - definitely not recognised as much as she should be and her voice is spectacular. I think the Next 10 Secons is probably my favourite song too.
And Tom was a nice addition - considering he didn't even sing that song in the show and afterwards he said he'd messed it up a bit, I think he did a pretty good job personally.
It came joint last. Not really a surprise but such a shame. Even Julie gave up hope.