Walking the Red Carpet at the 2016 Olivier Awards.

You may remember how last year a few friends and I attended the 2015 Olivier Awards, well, we decided to go again this year as we had such a great time! Once again we had an epic time walking up the red carpet, meeting some pretty cool people (my faves were Shirley Bassey and David Gandy), and enjoying the awards show and performances. So, do you fancy going next year? Read on to find out how…

Did you know that members of the public can attend the Olivier Awards? If you have a Mastercard, simply sign up to Priceless and as soon as you get an email around February time telling you tickets are going on sale, grab them as soon as you can! I promise this post isn’t sponsored, we bought our own tickets and did last year as well. The tickets cost around £65, and it’s well worth it as it’s such a fun night and you get to see heaps of performances from different shows!
So, armed with our tickets we all met at the Radio Rooftop Bar for some pre-drinks. It was a bit awks being in black tie at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, everyone kept staring and wondering what the hell we were doing. Then someone offered to take a group photo for us and said ‘Good luck if you’re nominated tonight!’ so I said ‘Thanks!’ – I mean, we may as well just go with it, right? 😉


The others all had champagne or rose, but as I could only have one drink as I was driving I chose a cocktail, the ‘South Pacific’, which was a deliciously refreshing blend of leblon, elderflower, kiwi, and apple. After more photos, a few laughs, and finishing off our drinks, we made our way down the road to the red carpet outside the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
We showed the security men our tickets and were waved through onto the carpet. It’s a bit crazy; there are people everywhere, security everywhere, cameras everywhere, and people lining the carpet screaming for all the celebrities that surround you. It can be overwhelming at times, especially when your senses are so attacked and there are security men being aggressive and pestering you to keep moving when you just want to soak it all up.
Thing is though we’re sorta experts at ‘loitering on a red carpet’ now. The trick is, when someone asks you to keep moving, you either move across to the other side, or tell them you’re waiting for you friends then call out to some people in the distance across the opposite side and walk towards them. We managed to hang around on the red carpet for around half an hour, and saw Gemma Arteton, Mark Rylance, David Suchet, Kenneth Branagh, Laura Carmichael, Amber Riley, Zoe Wannamaker, Maria Friedman, David Gandy, and Shirley Bassey!

Kenneth Branagh Olivier Awards 2016David Suchet Olivier Awards 2016

 

I know everyone says to ‘act cool’ and as if you belong in these situations, but I just can’t do it. I get so starstruck…take for example Dame Shirley Bassey. I saw her walking quickly up the red carpet with her security, and literally grabbed Sid and ran over to her, and asked her for a quick photo as I could see she was in a rush. She was lovely and said ‘yes, quickly!’ and her security went APE SHIT. They literally yelled at me ‘We’re not stopping!’ and Shirley looked at me and said ‘Quick!’ and we turned to smile for Sid’s camera. Then her security man grabbed my arm and dragged me away from her while the security lady practically pushed poor Shirley up the carpet.

Dame Shirley Bassey Olivier Awards London 2016
I have no shame. It was so worth it for this photo and to have a very brief moment with the original #Queen! We also got a selfie with David Gandy. Because, hello, check out those cheekbones and jawline.
David Gandy Olivier Awards 2016

Olivier Awards Red Carpet 2016

I wore a French Connection dress, and Mayveda Vintage earrings. Bag and shoes I can’t for the life of me remember where they’re from – they’re super old now!

That’s Maria Friedman in the blue dress!
After loitering on the red carpet as long as possible, we then made our way inside to the champagne reception. A few of us weren’t drinking so Chris and Sid had our drinks…plus a couple extra…
When it was time to go into the theatre we were all super excited for the perfomances! Last year’s Olivier Awards determined which new shows I went to see, with my favourite being Memphis. After this year’s Olivier Awards I’m now even more desperate to see Guys and Dolls and Bugsy Malone than I was before! I also really wanna see Gypsy, because OMG Imelda Staunton’s performance of Everything’s Coming up Roses was incredible!! But sadly it’s now finished… 🙁
After the awards ceremony a few of us went to Sophie’s Steakhouse for a late night dinner. We had a bargain steak and chips and dessert – their after-10pm menu is just £15 for two courses!
I got home at a reasonable time of 1am, had a few hours sleep, and then got up for work still all starstruck from the previous night’s events! Keep an eye out as I’ll have a little video up tomorrow evening…

 

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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

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5 Comments

  1. Amy
    April 4, 2016 / 11:26 pm

    This looks like so much fun! I had no idea the public could go. You look lovely, love the dress!

  2. Clare Nicholas
    April 5, 2016 / 7:03 pm

    What a fab night you had and an amazing experience….I'd want to soak it all up slowly

  3. Angie SilverSpoon
    April 5, 2016 / 7:13 pm

    What an incredibly glamorous occasion!

  4. Emma @ AdventuresofaLondonKiwi
    April 11, 2016 / 10:35 pm

    Now this, this sounds like so much fun! What a clever London trick!

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