The Olivier Awards! James Meets James McAvoy! Tom Hiddleston! Martin Freeman! Brian May! And More!

James our buddy over in the UK, has another awesome recap! This time, James went to the Olivier Awards and met some awesome people! Including Tom Hiddleston! Martin Freeman and more!

For those of you on the other side of the pond, this is a smorgasbord of UK celebrities and theater stars!

Check out his full recap after the jump!
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Ah, the Olivier Awards, an evening to celebrate the past twelve months of London theatre. I can’t lie, I love a bit of theatre, and having a friend that’s a part time theatre reviewer (and hence gets free tickets) helps to keep that love going. So an awards with some of the best theatre names of the past year? Of course I was there! So, straight into the arrivals…

First to arrive was former Eastenders actor, James Alexandrou, who played Martin Fowler. James signed an index card for me, and posed for a photo too. A new Eastenders autograph for me!

James Alexandrou signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 23James Alexandrou signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 23
James Alexandrou signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 23

He was followed by TV personality Gok Wan, who signed an index card and too posed for a photo with me. 

Gok Wan signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 54Gok Wan signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 54Gok Wan signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 54

BAFTA nominated actress Lesley Manville followed, best known for her roles in the Mike Leigh films Another Year and All or Nothing. I’ve heard some pretty bad stories about Lesley’s behaviour towards fans whilst she’s been in Ghosts in the West End, but she was lovely here. She signed an index card and posed for a photo too, although sadly is looking at the wrong camera!

Lesley Manville signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 42

Lesley Manville signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 42

Carry On and Eastenders actress Barbara Windsor followed soon after, but didn’t come over to sign. 

Barbara Windsor olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 22

Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing followed next, and she signed an index card and posed for a photo. 

Arlene Phillips signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 53

Arlene Phillips signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 53

Actress Debbie Chazen, best known for her Doctor Who, Sherlock and The Smoking Room roles, came over soon after and signed my Doctor Who book (signature number 15) and posed for a photo. She was fab in The Duck House at the Vaudeville Theatre recently. 

Debbie Chazen signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 51

Debbie Chazen signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 51

Cynthia Erivo, the star of I Can’t Sing, the new musical based on the X Factor followed, and she signed an index card and posed for a photo. I think she was a bit surprised anyone knew who she was. I went to a preview of I Can’t Sing and loved it, think it could be a big hit. 

Cynthia Erivo signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 41

Cynthia Erivo signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 41

Cynthia Erivo signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 41

Ben Miller came over next, but I didn’t get an autograph or photo, as I met him only a couple of weeks ago. 

Ben Miller olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 20

My Family, Hornblower and Citizen Smith star Robert Lindsay followed. He signed a flyer for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for me (another show I recommend!), and posed for a photo. 

Robert Lindsay signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 18

Robert’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels co-star Katherine Kingsley was right behind; she signed the same flyer and posed for a photo with me as well.

Katherine Kingsley signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 17

Katherine Kingsley signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 17

Katherine Kingsley signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 17

Katherine Kingsley signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 17

Opera singer Lesley Garrett was next to come over; she signed a flyer I’ve had since 2008(!) for me and posed for a photo.

Lesley Garrett signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 16

Lesley Garrett signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 16

Lesley Garrett signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 16

Lesley Garrett signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 16

Oh, there’s the two people I most wanted to meet here, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson from ABBA! Bjorn comes straight over, but sadly Benny didn’t. Bjorn signed an index card for me, and posed for a photo too. Awesome! Love a bit of ABBA, shame Benny didn’t come over but more than happy with meeting just Bjorn!

Bjorn Ulvaeus signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 14

Bjorn Ulvaeus signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 14

Theatre actress Summer Strallen soon followed, she signed and index card and posed for a photo with me. 

Summer Strallen signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 39Summer Strallen signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 39

Singer Beverley Knight was right behind. She signed a Christmas card for this year’s charity auctions (always worth starting early!) and posed for a photo with me. 

Beverley Knight  signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 10

Beverley Knight  signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 10

Elaine Paige came over next, although I didn’t get an autograph from her (I’ve met her multiple times in the past). 

Elaine Paige signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 13

She was followed by former Eastenders actress Anita Dobson, and her husband. Oh, her husband? Only legendary Queen guitarist Brian May!! I’ve met them both before, but Brian signed a Christmas card for me. His card raised £45 last year, so I’m excited to see how much he raises this time round. 

 Brian May signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 35

Brian May signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 35

Brian May signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 35

Ben Miles, best known for his role in Coupling followed, and signed an index card and posed for a photo with me.

Ben Miles signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 9

Ben Miles signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 9

Oh, the first A Lister was next to come over, Bilbo and Dr Watson himself, Martin Freeman! Martin signed a Christmas card for me and posed for a photo. Love the photo!!

martin freeman signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 34

martin freeman signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 34

Father Ted and My Hero star Ardal O’Hanlon soon followed, but since I’d met him the day before (I’ll have a write up on that soon!) I didn’t get another autograph or photo.

Ardal O’Hanlon signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 7

The second A Lister of the night followed, James McAvoy, star of X Men, The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe and a whole lot more. He was awesome, and really took his time meeting people. I’ve met James loads, and he’s signed absolutely everything I have in the past, so I got a Christmas card signed. When I explained the concept, he even added “Prof X and Mr Tumnus” after his signature. Pretty cool! He posed for a photo with me too.

James McAvoy signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 5

James McAvoy signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 5

James McAvoy signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 5

James McAvoy signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 5

I love where he’s put the pen in the last photo! Broadway legend Bernadette Peters came over next, signed for the person next to me, then stopped. Gutted! Literally sign one autograph, skip twenty people, sign another, skip another twenty. Shame.

Bernadette Peters signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 48

Anna Chancellor came over next, and signed an index card for me. 

Anna Chancellor signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 4

Anna Chancellor signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 4

Captain America star Hayley Atwell soon followed, and she was lovely – she signed an index card and posed for a photo with me. Wanted to get a photo with Hayley for a while, I reckon this has come out pretty well! Plus, she went to the same school as me! 

Hayley Atwell signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 3

Hayley Atwell signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 3

West End star Maria Friedman was going along unrecognized, but happily came over to sign an index card and pose for a photo when I called her. 

Maria Friedman signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

Maria Friedman signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

That left just one more person. This person had arrived a good thirty minutes before this point, and had spent all that time going along chatting, signing and posing for photos with fans. That person? Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston! Seriously, he was being so nice to everyone waiting. No number of PAs could get him inside for the start of the awards. He just carried on, making sure he could meet as many people as possible. Awesome guy! Last year his signed Christmas card was the most popular of mine (it sold for over £200). When I told him this he was thrilled, and happily signed two more for this year. Fab! He also posed for a photo with me – he tried to take it himself, but when that failed, he gave it back to me and suggested I took it. Such a nice guy!

tom hiddeston signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

tom hiddeston signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

tom hiddeston signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

tom hiddeston signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

 
Love this photo!

tom hiddeston signing autographs olivier awards 2014 signing autographs for fans 2

 

and that was that. Loads didn’t come over to sign where I was (Kristin Davis, Kathleen Turner, Rory Kinnear, Gemma Arteton, Stephen Mangan to name a few), but it was a super evening regardless! Wish all events were as laid back as the Oliviers!

Check out more adventures from James at his site here!

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Comments (1)
  1. Susan April 23, 2014

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