As if the excitement of attending the last Harry Potter premiere wasn’t enough I was an extremely and very lucky girl to be asked if I wanted to go see Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London by Matt (have I mentioned how awesome he is enough yet?). The show is a complete sell out and I never in a million years thought that I would get the chance and I actually cannot express how thankful I am.
Wyndham’s is a small, intimate theatre and a truly amazing building. Having been to the one theatre that there is in Aberdeen many, many times I kind of forget what a beautiful building it is to look at inside and out. With Wyndham’s I had no such preconceptions. I could have studied the ceilings alone for hours. Our seats were central and just a few rows from the stage. They probably couldn’t have been any more perfect. The show itself was amazing, I was sure that I had studied the play at school but couldn’t remember the plot but as it went on it became clear to me that I hadn’t and that made it even more enjoyable. The supporting cast was fantastic but of course David Tennant and Catherine Tate stole the show. The evening was made even more amazing by Catherine fluffing up on more than one occasion and at one point David mocking her as part of the script! All too soon it was over but I don’t think there is any theatre show I have seen (Wicked included!) that I have enjoyed more.
Afterwards we popped round the back to the stage door but as it was already mobbed with fans already we decided not to stay behind to see if we could get our programmes signed. However, as I was staying in London a little longer I planned to return when it was a little bit quieter. I did just that on the Monday evening. I was ridiculously early (like about 3 hours!) so I found some gelato and wander around Leicester Square before setting up shop in front of the barrier at the stage door. There were a couple of other people there (that listening to their conversations seemed to be there every evening!) and it slowly got busier. There was also an ace security guy whose name I can’t remember who was lovely and genuinely seemed to want people to get the most out of the experience.
Eventually we could hear the music for the finale and things started to get a bit more serious. The chatter got louder, people pushed closer together and I’m glad that I had the experience of the Harry Potter premiere as otherwise I would have been unprepared for the shove as soon as both David and Catherine came out of the door. I tried to get pictures but the majority are blurry as it was near impossible to hold the camera still.
They were both on autopilot with the signing and Catherine just seemed to go by in a flash so I didn’t get a picture but I did get the chance to thank her for messing up on the Friday as it made the whole thing that more memorable and enjoyable. She just laughed and kind of apologised for it! Then it was Mr Tennant’s turn to sign for me and I was a bit lost for words (those of you that know me know how rare this is!) but I found my tongue just in time to ask David for a photo. He obliged and the kind girl who was next to me took the below photo.
Actually she took the one above that first as well but David seemed to realise that she’d missed me out on the shot and adjusted it for her so she could take another. He was even kind enough to check with me to ensure that I had got a picture at all (thinking about it I should have said no and tried for another <less fuzzy> one!)
I was then promptly pushed out of my front row spot and ended up walking away in a daze, shaking. I did manage to thank the girl who took the pictures (I didn’t even get her name!) I then also had the amazing opportunity to talk to the stunning Sarah MacRae who plays Hero. I said I thought she was fantastic and I couldn’t believe it was her first production (she corrected me, it was her second – first in the west end) and how much I enjoyed the show on the Friday and Catherine messing up. She seemed genuinely grateful to be recognised and she thanked me for coming along to the show. It was another amazing experience.
I still can’t believe that when I started my 101 list I wanted to see any west end show and now, not even a year later, I’ve seen two!
