Attending the Tale of Sweeney Todd
Well, after months and months of anxiously waiting I finally went to the Sweeney Todd premier in London and it was bloody fantastic (no pun intended!). Alysia and I arrived at Leicester Square around 4-4.30 for the 7pm premier. The celebrities were supposed to begin arriving at 6pm and it was cold, windy, and raining. Very promising conditions for standing around outside. Ha!
Well, Alysia and I tried to scope out a spot around the outskirts of the Square, but Alysia kept pressing me to ask the guards if there was a way we could get inside the inner Square. For those of you who don't know, the inner portion of Leicester Square within the confines of the garden is where the celebrities will DEFINITELY go. The red carpet leads into the Square and the reporters wait inside for their interviews. The fans who get to stand inside the closed gates of the inner square have typically camped out in Leicester Square the night before in order to get those spots. Anyway, I went around and asked 5 or 6 guards at all the entrances to the inner square if there was a way to get inside. They all said it was full and that I could try at another gate, but the probability was against me. Well, I finally went over to the last gate where a guard lady in a pink coat stood looking like a drowned rat in the rain.
Me-"I have a question for you. Everyone has told me you are the one to talk to."
Her-"I'm not anymore. I'm all full up."
Me-"Oh...they said you had spots."
Her-"Well, I don't."
Me-"Is there a chance of getting into the square if people leave from the rain?"
Her-"No one is leaving."
At this point a man comes up to the guard and starts asking her to let him out of the square for a minute. The two of them talk for a while and I just stand there with Alysia a few feet behind me talking to some other random girls who have gathered near us. After about 3 or 4 minutes the man leaves and she looks back at me.
Her-"Oh, sorry"
Me-"It's ok."
And then another guard walks over and starts talking to her. I'm back to standing and waiting for her to stop talking to random people. The girls talking with Alysia walk off to find another gate to ask at in hopes of access and the lady in the pink coat continues talking to her guard friends. A few minutes pass and she looks back at me still standing there.
Her-*sighs and looks at Alysia standing off behind me* Is it just the two of you?
Me-"Yes, just us!"
Alysia (noticing I've motioned to her and have made some sort of headway runs forward)-"We'll close our umbrellas so we don't take up as much room if you want."
Her-"Oh I don't care if you use the umbrellas or not. For all I care you can poke out the other people's eyes with them to get up to the front. Though I didn't tell you that."
And then she opened the gate!! Are you freaking kidding me? We got into the gated off square and were certain to see Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman! Alysia and I darted off into the barricades with the other fans, found a spot close to the front with a view of the red carpet and looked at our watches. It was 5pm. We only had to stand outside for an hour and we were in the Square. Fan-freaking-tastic!!
Just after 6pm they began arriving. Timothy Spall was first (he plays Beadle Bamford in Sweeney and Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail in Harry Potter). He stuck around for a while and did a bunch of interviews with the reporters. I did manage to get some decent pictures of him. Then came Johnny Depp!! We could see him standing on the red carpet and doing interviews and it was a madhouse. We waited and waited for him to finish on the carpet and come down to the sections with the fans further inside and suddenly Alan Rickman was there! How we missed Alan's arrival I don't know, but it doesn't matter because he did his interviews and then came over to the fans. Photos galore! After Alan Rickman walked to the next section, Johnny came down to do more interviews with the reporters in the centre. And after that he walked all the way to the very last fan in teh very corner and signed everything that he walked past. He was the only one to go out of his way to make sure every fan got to see him close up and, oh dear G-d, is he beautiful. It was ridiculous. He's even more beautiful in person than on screen. Lovvveeeee!! We didn't get anything signed, but Alysia got some really great pictures while I took a video of him. It was amazing! He was really nice for coming and making sure everyone got a chance to see him. After Johnny left we still had more to see though. Tim Burton and Laura Michelle Kelly showed up and then, to the surprise of absolutely everyone, Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs Lovett in Sweeney and Bellatrix in Harry Potter)!! She just had a baby and every source was saying she would not be at the premier, but she showed up anyway. She looked cold and a bit unhappy, but she was still beautiful. She did a few interviews and then went into the theatre. I saw her close up at the Harry Potter premier though, so I was ok with the fact that she didn't come to our section. Anyway, I was just excited she was even there! The child stars were there too. I felt bad for them because the film isn't out in England yet so most of the people near me had no clue they were even in it. I saw the film twice before I left America though so I recognized Johanna, Antony, and Toby (though Toby had his back to us the whole time while doing his interviews).
Anyways, it was an amazing night and I wanted to make sure I got it all down while I still remember everything in detail!
--Hils
Well, Alysia and I tried to scope out a spot around the outskirts of the Square, but Alysia kept pressing me to ask the guards if there was a way we could get inside the inner Square. For those of you who don't know, the inner portion of Leicester Square within the confines of the garden is where the celebrities will DEFINITELY go. The red carpet leads into the Square and the reporters wait inside for their interviews. The fans who get to stand inside the closed gates of the inner square have typically camped out in Leicester Square the night before in order to get those spots. Anyway, I went around and asked 5 or 6 guards at all the entrances to the inner square if there was a way to get inside. They all said it was full and that I could try at another gate, but the probability was against me. Well, I finally went over to the last gate where a guard lady in a pink coat stood looking like a drowned rat in the rain.
Me-"I have a question for you. Everyone has told me you are the one to talk to."
Her-"I'm not anymore. I'm all full up."
Me-"Oh...they said you had spots."
Her-"Well, I don't."
Me-"Is there a chance of getting into the square if people leave from the rain?"
Her-"No one is leaving."
At this point a man comes up to the guard and starts asking her to let him out of the square for a minute. The two of them talk for a while and I just stand there with Alysia a few feet behind me talking to some other random girls who have gathered near us. After about 3 or 4 minutes the man leaves and she looks back at me.
Her-"Oh, sorry"
Me-"It's ok."
And then another guard walks over and starts talking to her. I'm back to standing and waiting for her to stop talking to random people. The girls talking with Alysia walk off to find another gate to ask at in hopes of access and the lady in the pink coat continues talking to her guard friends. A few minutes pass and she looks back at me still standing there.
Her-*sighs and looks at Alysia standing off behind me* Is it just the two of you?
Me-"Yes, just us!"
Alysia (noticing I've motioned to her and have made some sort of headway runs forward)-"We'll close our umbrellas so we don't take up as much room if you want."
Her-"Oh I don't care if you use the umbrellas or not. For all I care you can poke out the other people's eyes with them to get up to the front. Though I didn't tell you that."
And then she opened the gate!! Are you freaking kidding me? We got into the gated off square and were certain to see Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman! Alysia and I darted off into the barricades with the other fans, found a spot close to the front with a view of the red carpet and looked at our watches. It was 5pm. We only had to stand outside for an hour and we were in the Square. Fan-freaking-tastic!!
Just after 6pm they began arriving. Timothy Spall was first (he plays Beadle Bamford in Sweeney and Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail in Harry Potter). He stuck around for a while and did a bunch of interviews with the reporters. I did manage to get some decent pictures of him. Then came Johnny Depp!! We could see him standing on the red carpet and doing interviews and it was a madhouse. We waited and waited for him to finish on the carpet and come down to the sections with the fans further inside and suddenly Alan Rickman was there! How we missed Alan's arrival I don't know, but it doesn't matter because he did his interviews and then came over to the fans. Photos galore! After Alan Rickman walked to the next section, Johnny came down to do more interviews with the reporters in the centre. And after that he walked all the way to the very last fan in teh very corner and signed everything that he walked past. He was the only one to go out of his way to make sure every fan got to see him close up and, oh dear G-d, is he beautiful. It was ridiculous. He's even more beautiful in person than on screen. Lovvveeeee!! We didn't get anything signed, but Alysia got some really great pictures while I took a video of him. It was amazing! He was really nice for coming and making sure everyone got a chance to see him. After Johnny left we still had more to see though. Tim Burton and Laura Michelle Kelly showed up and then, to the surprise of absolutely everyone, Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs Lovett in Sweeney and Bellatrix in Harry Potter)!! She just had a baby and every source was saying she would not be at the premier, but she showed up anyway. She looked cold and a bit unhappy, but she was still beautiful. She did a few interviews and then went into the theatre. I saw her close up at the Harry Potter premier though, so I was ok with the fact that she didn't come to our section. Anyway, I was just excited she was even there! The child stars were there too. I felt bad for them because the film isn't out in England yet so most of the people near me had no clue they were even in it. I saw the film twice before I left America though so I recognized Johanna, Antony, and Toby (though Toby had his back to us the whole time while doing his interviews).
Anyways, it was an amazing night and I wanted to make sure I got it all down while I still remember everything in detail!
--Hils