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Met Lee? Share your account here!!! and make the rest of us jealous!!!!! More to be added later
Alex and Lee look the perfect couple, don't they!!!??? This was with the birthday boy at the Stage Door.
Jazzylou had an amazing UC&P moment on the 5th July, all beautifully captured on film!
This trip
was the first time I had travelled on my own to London, ever! I was
fine but a bit nervous, although I couldn't separate that from my
excitement of seeing Lee and the show. Met friend in Trafalgar Square
and walked to Maiden Lane. Had a bit of time in hand so went for a
stroll round Covent Garden market. I couldn't take my mind off Lee and
I managed to drag my friend away, back to the stage door. Met Pipz and
her friend and had a chat and some wine (thanks girls). Lee turned up
about 1.10 I think, too excited to look at watch! He looked gorgeous in
a pale blue shirt and jeans, very relaxed and happy to have a quick chat
and a few photos. Phheewww, another lovely cuddle! (thud) I explained
that my first photo was awful because I was wearing my awful rain mac
and he laughed. I also have to mention that this time I got a whiff of
that amazing fragrance he wears (thud) I can't explain how wonderful it
was to smell it at last. My friend hadn't realised that he walked in,
she expected to see a car or,at least, some security!
An 'Up Close and Personal' account from Bev.mc who was at the matinee on July 2nd
And then
he kissed me!!!!!(you may know the tune??)
Scrapbook Review by Brenda - "Mission Accomplished"! (Monday 9th June)
OMG - what a stunning,
adorable, beautiful, friendly, happy, relaxed guy ........ but first:
Marg and
I walked in a dream round to the box office. It was 6pm and we still
didn’t have any tickets. I asked the young lad (who had only been doing
the job for a week, and thought we were totally mad) if there were any
seats left for that evening. He said H row stalls or Circle Row B right
in the middle. Marg and I were arguing which were best, and I said you
go in the stalls and Ill go in the circle. Then I said to the lad
"haven’t you got anything better, any returns or anything, A or B row -
we are loppies (which he didn’t seem to understand) - I said we are real
fans and I showed him one of the pics wed just had taken. I then asked
him if there were any single better seats. In the end he said "seeing as
its you (?) you can have D row stalls, No 18 and 19 - wow - so he gave
us those. We then had to kill an hour, easily spent in Cafe Nero ogling
the photos. When we were ready to go back into the Theatre, we chatted
to Del outside, and he said "how many are there of you tonight" noticing
our THUD tee shirts? and we said "about 4" and he looked relieved, we
had to tell him why there had been so many loppies about on Saturday. We
asked him where his LMAS badge was and he said he couldn’t wear it that
early. Anyway we went in, and ended up we were sat next to Baloo. Then
there was Lee descending from the haze. I thought he sounded fantastic -
the first part passed quickly and the new were cast were brilliant - for
first timers going to watch the show, they wouldn’t have known any
different and CED was breathtaking (and left him sweaty!) and I thought
he seemed to be flung into the jail too enthusiastically for my liking!
At the interval we met up with Sue and Lin and Owlie Sue (who it was
lovely to meet), then on to the second part. I can’t think offhand but
there seemed to be a few subtle changes, even the way he sang some of
ADWD in the first part, and some expressions more exaggerated. So
another brilliant half and then onto the megamix. It was a little
subdued at first - although everyone was clapping, nobody appeared to be
standing, and Reuben (I think it was) was trying to get everyone in the
mood. THEN Lee came bounding back on stage and Marg and I were on our
feet. At this point, don’t forget we were 4 rows from the front and dead
centre. Our hands were up in the air clapping furiously and then WOW,
OMG THUD, THUD, Lee recognised us and from smiling, suddenly flashed at
us the biggest beaming smile I have ever seen. We thought we'd imagined
it afterward until Suex and Lin commented on it (jealously you
understand!). It was all over then out to the scrum. We managed to get
our prime spot, until I had to run back into the theatre to use the
toilet and when I bounced back out, had to make do with second row!!
Then there he was again, he signed my "Three and Out" cd cover, and the
way he said "hello" I could tell he had recognised us again - he also
signed another beautiful picture I had taken and Marg's ticket - and
Suex's and Lin's fans, then Marg said "did you manage to look at the
book" and he said "yes, its lovely - a lot of hard work has gone into
it", then moved on again to carry on signing. Owlie Sue and her sons
were behind us - enjoying the scrum, and Gerri from the Stage Loppies
was in front of us. Baloo was also at the side. (Look out for Brenda's scrum photos in 'Latest News'.)
David and I met Lee on 24th May - as you can see young David was right at home!!!
I know this is a long time coming and I apologise for not sorting it earlier but this is my account of my recent meet with Lee! David and I had tickets for the matinee performance on 24th May and were fortunate to be invited to see Lee in his dressing room after the show! But first I feel that I should share a little about the show, David had been looking forward to it for ages and was really excited when he saw the photos from the show outside the theatre! Dell looked at our tickets on the door and David proudly told him that he ‘was here to see Lee Mead!’ at which point Del smiled and said for David to wave at Lee for him too! The show was note perfect throughout and I truly believe that Lee sang ‘Close Every Door’ the best he has ever sang it! Bur before he did, a little voice sitting to my left was heard shouting as the prison bars descended towards the stage ‘Lee run!’ which was a wonderful piece of advice from David and caused the people around us to chuckle!! David was mesmerised from start to finish and spontaneously got up to dance and clap his way through the Megamix it was wonderful to watch! He LOVED it!! He also LOVED being showered by confetti and insisted on taking some pieces home to show Daddy! Which of course we did! But both of us knew the best was yet to come, our meeting with Lee in his dressing room! We made our way to the Stage Door and walked in. The lady on security look most disbelievingly when I said that we had a meeting with Lee – but she phoned up and said that we were there and Lee said to come straight up which we did! Whilst waiting for Lee on the landing outside his dressing room, Jenna appeared still in her robe following the performance. She said hello and David darted behind me half scared to death! But she won him round by talking to him and being totally lovely with him! She really is a beautiful person and chatted easily with us whilst we waited for Lee! Once Lee was ready, we made our way into his dressing room and unlike with Jenna, David was totally relaxed as Lee met me with a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek and it wasn’t long before David made himself at home on Lee’s lap and chatting away like old friends. I won’t bore you with the details of the conversation but it revolved around Indiana Jones, High School Musical and the performance today! Lee and David were having a great time. But the highlight for me was the sing-along. David sang to Lee ‘Twinkle, Twinkle. Little Star’ and Lee tried to get him to sing along to ‘Any Dream Will Do’ which he did but with a little more embarrassment! But to be there with Lee and my youngest son with the GO singing to us was wonderful and something I will remember for some time! After that we chatted some more about the show and about his change of agents and about fundraising it was lovely and very much a privilege! Time flew and it was soon time for us to go and with another hug and kiss for both David and me, we left, very much on a high! With great memories and some great photos too! Emma Jean's meeting with the Go at the Prince's Trust Awards Here's an account of when my family and I met Lee at the Princes' Trust Celebrate Success Awards on Tuesday 18th March..... All the pictures are from the same day... We arrived in London in the very early afternoon of the Tuesday. After rushing to our hotel, frantically waiting for our room to be ready so that we could drop our bags off, apologising to the cleaning lady for barging in while she was preparing the room (sorry!!!), and walking quickly to Leicester Square, we finally arrived outside the Odeon. There was a red carpet outside the door, and there was quite a crowd leaning against the barriers that had been put there. We found a space to one side of the crowd, and waited in anticipation... We managed to find out from the security people that Gwyneth Paltrow had just gone in, and that Prince Charles was expected at any moment. We also asked whether Lee Mead had already gone in, to which one of the guards replied "Lee who?". It was at this point that I started to despair and realised that not everybody is quite as 'mad about the boy' as we are......never mind....(sigh!). Anyway, not long afterwards, Prince Charles turned up in his bullet-proof Jag, and went in, following the previous entrance of a famous person whom I didn't actually recognise (the paparazzi went wild, so I suppose she was well-known...). We waited a bit longer, before deciding to go off and get something to eat before returning at 5 o'clock to see if we could see the GO - however, just as we were about to leave, we caught a glimpse of some familiar-looking curls through the foyer glass...yes, it was Lee! We saw him go into a room off to the side of the foyer, but that was all. The GO was definitely in the building after all!!!! At 5:15pm, all the people came out again (we eavesdropped on a policewoman's conversation to find out what time it would finish...heeeheee!). We had prime position, just in front of the entrance, and right at the front of the crowd, against the barriers. Suddenly, we caught sight of Lee in the foyer - he was talking to some people, and had his picture taken with a couple of women before making his way out of the cinema....
My sister and I called 'Lee!!!', and
when he heard us, he looked up, smiled, and waved. We thought that was
the end of it, but he then started to come on over to us (swoon!), and
proceeded to have a very nice chat with us:
(NB.: This is approx. what happened
- I'm afraid the wonder of the moment may have corrupted my memory
slightly!).
Brenda's Up Close and Personal Kirsten and I met around 4.30 on Easter Monday. Although she wanted to go for something to eat first, I persuaded her to go along to the Stage Door – just in case we caught a glimpse of Lee – and in the hope that I could pass him a small Easter present I had bought which was a plain navy “Chelsea” Beany hat. We arrived at the Stage Door at 5.45 and I agreed that we would only stay until 6.00 as Kirsten was cold – aahh. We saw quite a few of the brothers arriving, and Benjamin was standing outside for a while – also Dean Collinson arrived – looking a bit rough we thought. Time was moving on, and I said “can we just stay until 6.05 – then, can we just stay until 6.15 and I will definitely go by 6.30 I promise”. Poor Kirsten was humouring me – but as Lee hadn’t turned up we suddenly thought perhaps he wasn’t well again – we had been waiting outside for 35 minutes) – when Kirsten said quite calmly here he is now!!!! I turned around and saw him then turned back to Kirsten and said, OMG what do we do now. He was walking towards us, no-one else about and we started to move towards him – he had on that lovely warm parka coat and chunky jumper underneath and no hat – his hair looked really long. We moved towards him and Kirsten said “Hi Lee, of all the days that you are late, you choose the coldest one! He said” yes, it’s bloody cold isn’t it!” Then I handed him the gift bag (bright colourful stripes of course) and said “here is a small Easter gift for you”. He took it and said “thank you so much”. I said to him “Are you feeling better” and, bless him he rubbed his stomach and said “it was food poisoning and I felt terrible” . Kirsten then said “you looked very peeky at the Capital Radio show, rubbing your tummy, drinking loads of water.” He then said again “it’s really cold isn’t it” and I answered “there’s something in the bag which will keep you warm”. He then said “are you coming to see the show tonight” and we both answered “yes, of course”. He then said “Ill see you then – it was nice meeting you both”. And then he was gone. What was really lovely was that even though he was late, he didn’t rush away at all, he seemed quite happy to talk. May be it was because he weren’t pointing a camera at him or shoving papers under his nose to sign (even though we had the urge!!!) – whatever it was, he was the perfect gentleman. Kirsten and I just looked at each other. I said to her “I bet you’re not cold now are you?” Then we went for something to eat and to try and remember the brief conversation again. We got to the Adelphi with only a few minutes to spare. As the orchestra started playing the signature tunes, the audience were clapping. There was a good atmosphere already. Lee was stunning, he and the cast were on form and were joking about with each other. When Dean was doing his bit, Jenna the narrator was making him laugh, he added a few different things to say to the audience and was enjoying the audience cheering and clapping after him. At one part one of Lee’s wrist chains came off, he didn’t seem to bother trying to mend it for a while, then when he was standing at the back of the stage one of the brothers fixed it for him. Close to the start of the megamix the brother with the huge belly started clapping to the audience getting everyone to join in shouting “c’mon everyone, it’s bank holiday Monday”, and towards the end Kirsten and I stood up and clapped hard as Lee was being raised up in the air. We didn’t care that the people around us didn’t stand, but they didn’t ask us to sit down either. Then it was all over and we were in the usual scrum outside. Kirsten got him to sign the art photo Carys had adapted and I asked him to sign the GMYAS single cover. Of course as he was about to sign I said the usual “don’t sign on your face” and he obliged!! He seemed to be going backwards and forwards up and down the crowd, if we’d been more prepared at that moment, he would have signed other photos for us, he seemed to be looking for things to sign . I said to him “did you like the hat” and he said “oh I haven’t opened it yet” One small girl kept saying to Lee “its my birthday, can I have a birthday hug please”. He ignored her the first few times then just before he went in she said it again and he leaned over to her as if to hug her, but it wasn’t a proper hug as I don’t think he is allowed – it looked as it he was leaning over to someone behind her! Kirsten got it all on video, even a brief sight of me in front of Lee but not sure if we are in the same shot. 3 minutes later he was gone, and we skipped (well not literally, but went off like two excited teenagers) back to the Underground, looked over the video then made our way back to Kirsten’s. Lovely end to a lovely weekend away. Thanks to Kirsten for putting up with me and giving me a bed for the night. My 58 seconds of an UC+P with His Gorgeousness in the scrum Saturday 23rd Feb - accompanied by Lotti_B’s wonderful photos of the occasion! (thank you for agreeing to include them Lotti – luv you forever xxx) To put this into context, my 3 previous scrum experiences have been typical of most Loppies, sudden dry mouth, very wobbly legs, inability to string two words together, inane grin…….you know the sort of thing. But as I stood waiting for him to move along towards me I decided to imagine I was talking to one of my sons friends and hey presto! I found myself saying in my best teacher’s voice. “Lee Mead” pause……..Lee stopped in his tracks looked directly at me with a slightly puzzled expression and a little smile. (Poor guy was probably trying to work out if he was supposed to remember me from somewhere!) How I managed to stay upright I’ll never know but then I continued …..(and please don’t ask me where it came from because I hadn’t planned it) ……. “Lee, can I thank you on behalf of all the Loppies for posting a couple of your holiday photos on your site”. (here’s the first pic and no I’m not touching his hand, it’s the angle of the shot – honest!)
Lee - still looking directly into my eyes…thud….melt….swoon…thud… (Must say I nearly lost it here) replied with a stunning smile accompanied by giggles and a bounce. “Oh, Yea! I had a great time” big laugh….. As I had his attention, I continued me laughing too “DO you realise the effect they are having?” He had just started to move along signing by now and was a foot or so away but stopped, turned back to me, looked me straight in the eyes, AGAIN flashed a wicked smile, gave a very naughty giggle and said “well it was very HOT” and moved off giggling with a wink AND then turned back and winked again with that cheeky smile. And here is chuckling Lee captured beautifully by Lotti as he turned away……
A wonderful little conversation with a wonderful guy. MEGA thuds followed for many Hours! Days! In fact I don’t think they will stop! Boy does he know what he’s doing!!!! To women of all ages! Suex aka :thud: Sue Maggie's meeting brightened up a cold foggy London day! OH! WHAT A LOVE LEE DAY Wednesday 19th February 2008. I took a trip to London today; awful weather, foggy and very cold. Went to the stage-door and talked to some stage techies who said the GO usually arrived quite late, around 1.30pm. Also talked to two ‘Lovelees’, Amy and Kirsty, from Wells, Somerset, who were also waiting.
Shortly after one o’clock, I just
happened to look up to notice a curly head of hair disappearing down the
street. I yelled out “Lee” and went racing after him. “Where are you
going?” I asked.
He signed a card for me (my
birthday was just a couple of days away) and wished me happy birthday. I
asked if I could take a photo and then decided to ask if I could be in
it as well. Kirsty kindly took the pic and the GO actually put his arm
around me. I nearly fainted. Apologies but pic blurred and not good
enough to send. Bev Mc and Sarah got more than they bargained for! An excellent UC&P! Here goes, this is Bev Mc's close encounter....Close encounter ..Regrets..? Maybe! This was it ,FINALLY, the big day had arrived, Sarah G and I caught the train from Wigan at 10.00. Firstly Sarah, thanks for your wonderful company, haven’t known you long but it was a truly brilliant day. We’ve both been driving family and work colleagues nuts for the last few months and, as I haven't been to London since I was a little girl, I was especially nervous!! The journey didn’t start well, I dropped my scarf on the station and with 2 mins till the train was due decided not to leg it down to the office to get it back, in the boots I had on probably would have broken my neck!! (only 5 ft tall I need all the help I can get!!!) So, after a long journey with lot`s of "Lee chat" and plenty of laughs we arrived at Euston....REALLY REALLY EXCITED!! We had formulated a plan that we would make our way to the theatre for a bit of "LEE SPOTTING" and treat ourselves to a coffee in a really nice cafe. Trotting through Covent Garden SarahG said "Righto! eyes peeled ,we may just get lucky" to which I replied "not a cat in hell`s chance!".........BUT!!! As we came to the street at the back of the theatre there’s a coffee place on the corner, we turned to walk past and I did a double take and stopped dead in my tracks, sitting in the window was a familiar mop of black curls!! Unfortunately, "Ah, Ah LLEE!" was all I could get out of my mouth. Sarah had also clocked him and mouthed "keep walking" until we came to the nearest doorway, there I squealed and did a little stampy dance to the amusement of some workmen parked nearby. We decided it would look really obvious if we walked straight past again so we went round the block praying he would still be there. HE WAS! Being really brave we decided to go in and order coffees to go as he was in deep conversation with an older gentleman and looked quite serious. By this time we had both lost the power of speech, garbled something unintelligible to the girl behind the counter and tried to look cool...NOT! Sarah was desperately trying to find her purse, shoving her "Mrs Lee Mead" keyring back in her bag and we both prayed that our mobiles didn't go off as I have Lee as my wallpaper and Sarah’s plays "Paint It Black" as the text alert. As the girl then puts the cups on the counter and I get a grin (woah!) from Lee we realize that the coffee was in cups to stay in. "Where the heck can we sit", Sarah whispered and i saw to my dismay the only two spare seats were tall stools at a counter directly next to where Lee was sat in the window, OH DEAR GOD! With shaking hands we managed to get our cups onto the counter and whilst Sarah had hopped onto her stool with no trouble, being vertically challenged, this was not going to be easy for me! After 3 attempts Lee was beginning to turn his head sideways (so Sarah told me after) to get a better view of the nutty blonde giggling on the stool and, bless her, Sarah got a full on Lee fix! By this time I had decided to attempt to drink my coffee and gulped half the cup, God it was hot! Then started to play with the spoon as i was nervous. "Stop sucking the spoon you nutter", Sarah giggled as she realised she was now mirroring each of Lee`s actions. We calmed down enough to listen to what was being said which was really naughty of us and would NOT repeat, and did several head nods to each other wondering whether to actually speak to him as we had brought something to give him.....BUT!! Yes we bottled!!....it just wasn't appropriate we decided. And when he left we followed his gorgeousness out of the door with our eyes and sat with silly grins on our faces. So that was our close encounter. Thing is I totally respect Lee`s privacy. Do I regret not speaking too him ?..in hindsight MAYBE! I`ll be kicking myself for a while, but up close, WOW! He is stunning! Bev Mc and here is my close encounter.... We have been counting the days to going to Joseph since November last year, I suffer from the problem of every time I go to Joseph I buy another set of tickets without thinking about who I will go with, luckily Bev Mc managed to get a ticket for the same show and we were set!!!! Woke up on the morning of the 6th rather abruptly and assumed I had realised what day it was, OH NO!! My 7 year old daughter was being sick in the toilet!!! How could I go to Joseph now especially when she said “Mummy, I know you would rather see Lee than me so if you still want to go to London that's fine!" Husband virtually threw me out of the front door, I knew that a day with daddy would be great but how bad could I feel!!!! When Bev and I arrived at Covent Garden I just had a feeling, wishful probably, but I said to her "eyes peeled, you never know..." We headed to the theatre to get our bearings and then I realised we were at the street that the stage door is on, we decided to go that way, (you just never know), when Bev began stuttering madly I glanced over at the coffee shop on my right, there he was!! Oh my, powder blue jumper, loads of curls, it just had to be him!! We kept walking, of course he may have seen us so we couldn't walk back (highly unlikely I know, but a girl can dream!!) We virtually sprinted round the block and I said,” Come on, we're allowed a coffee, lets go in, we'll get one to go" Holding our breath we managed to negotiate are way to the counter which was right next to were Lee was sitting, I have never giggled so much in my life!! I whipped out my purse and Bev hissed "key ring", Aaah, I have a Lee key ring attached to my purse, then she hissed, "phone!", my phone plays Paint It Back!!! Somehow I managed to juggle turning off phone and hiding purse so when the lady asked what I wanted I stuttered, "Latte......two....of", all this time Bev had a full on Lee fest and I had my back to him!!! Answered a few nos to the lady, what she asked I have no idea, and decided next answer should be yes, unfortunately that led to coffee in mugs not paper cups. The only two seats in the shop were next to Lee on the counter, well not quite, the man he was chatting too was in between!!! I fairly sprinted to the one facing in Lees direction and there I sat, head on hand staring adoringly like a love sick puppy at the image of gorgeousness that is LEE MEAD!!!! After he left the cafe we watched the ROTY disappear down the street and realised how silly we looked, but who cares, he won't remember me but I will certainly remember my close encounter with the GO!!! SarahG 6th February - Tina and Dolly had a star filled evening! Whilst watching Lee Mead - The Winners Story on TV mum and I realised just how much the word "Star" seems to run through Lee's life in one form or another, but how he needs a hell of a lot of convincing that he is a "Star". So bearing that in mind, we decided to have a Star named after him - quite literally - with the International Star Registry. The name of the Star is Lee Mead and it is in the Perseus (the Hero) constellation. Find out more here! We decided to have Lee's date of birth put on the certificate - the day that a Star was born & the inscription that we decided on was "Gonna make you a Star" and that appears on the official Certificate as well. Of course it would be have been lovely to have had the chance to personally hand over the framed Certificate & all of the documentation that goes with it, but I knew that that was not going to happen so I ended up leaving it at the Stage Door for him (wrapped up in STAR paper of course!) The show last night (6th Feb) was hit by a few gremlins. The hydraulic lift that transports Lee to the stage at the very beginning of the show was not working, so he walked on, the Camel was not working either, so Lee ended up being dragged around the stage by two REAL Ishmaelites, adjust to round the evening off, as Lee banged his precious golden cup down on the stage in front of Benjamin, the cup broke in half. Several cast members were by then finding it hard to suppress a fit of the giggles, how Lee kept a straight face I shall never know. What a pro he is. Mum and I decided that we would wait outside the Stage Door instead of the front of the theatre last night and when Lee eventually came out we did get the chance to ask him if he liked his Star. Donna, his face broke in to this huge smile and he said:- "Wow, was that from you, are you Tina & Dolly, it' s so nice to meet you (gave each of us a hug and a kiss at this point), you are very kind,it was a really lovely thought, I love it, I'm gonna hang them (framed certificates etc) up on my wall. Thank you again so much". He asked us if we had enjoyed the show, mum informed how many times we had been to see it. To which Lee replied "Wow, you must know all the words by now" There was another hug for mum, he wished her a happy birthday and he giggled and then winked at me when she remarked to him how soft his skin was! (I can't take her anywhere). Our encounter ended with him being driven off into the night and waving at us as he went past us at the top of the road. After our Lee Mead encounter needless to say neither mother nor daughter could sleep a wink when we got home and my mum said she had a birthday she will never forget. 26th January - Shirley and I spent a wonderful afternoon at the Mushroom Theatre Company!
(click for larger version if you want to see some more detail!) Shirley and I had been looking forward to our trip to Essex for some time as we were both excited to see what the money raised for Equal People and The Mushroom Theatre Company was going to be used for. We were greeted at the door by Curly Liz and her husband which took us a bit by surprise as it was like Lee's fans' fans if you get my gist, but very welcome nonetheless! We were welcomed into group by Penni Bubb who runs Mushroom and is clearly a wonderful and inspirational lady who has touched the hearts of so many. Let me explain a bit about it all. Penni runs the Mushroom Theatre Company as a business but is raising money through Equal People for a very much needed home for the group. Today the Special Needs group had stayed behind to perform for us and we were delighted to be entertained my two wonderful songs and a brilliant piece of dance. The kids all of them participated with beaming smiles and boundless energy as we sang and clapped along to 'Maybe it's because I am Londoner' and 'Lambeth Walk' musical instruments clasped enthusiastically in their hands. It was magical. The dance was to 'Don't Stop Movin' by S Club Seven and believe you me when I say they did not stop moving!!! It was wonderful and really brought a lump to my throat to see these beautiful children enjoying and being proud of what they were doing. We were then introduced to some of the parents who explained to us just what Mushroom meant to them and their families and how it really was a part of the community but they also explained to us what the problem is. Currently when the group perform their shows. they use the facilities at Eastwood School. The problem is the school is not accessible to the disabled members of the group which means they cannot perform their much loved and practised pieces and have to sit in their wheelchairs observing it all from the sidelines, which smacks directly in the face of Penni's own philosophy of being totally inclusive. It is true to say that she has some ambitious plans for the future of Mushroom that involves a brand new building that is completely accessible to all. The plans have been drawn, Penni just needs to raise the funds to realise her dream. If you want to read more about Penni and her plans, it was recently featured in the Southend-on-Sea Echo. It was a wonderful experience and a humbling one too. Penni told us all about Lee and showed us her Lee scrapbook and lots of photos of him during his time at Mushroom. She mentioned how helpful and resourceful he has always been which was lovely to hear. We were also very very privileged to meet two of the most delightful young people I think that I have ever met. Steph and Alex who are sixth form students who willingly give up their time to help Penni run the groups. They too touched both mine and Shirley's hearts and as I said to Shirley, if my two boys grow up half as decent as them, then I have done a brilliant job! Thanks guys for making us feel so welcome! These are Penni's plans........ Shirley's account is below!!!
This is from Shirley! As you may know, Penni Bubb, who is the founder and motive force behind the Mushroom Theatre Company had invited us over to meet her, and to see the splendid work that they are doing. And yesterday was the day. First off Penni is lovely. A really inspirational lady who had arranged for one of her classes to stay late yesterday so they could show us a couple oftheir song and dance routines. They sang and played different musical instruments to 'Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner' and 'Doing the Lambeth Walk' and everyone was having just so much fun. Their smiles and giggles show you the fun they were having far better than words can describe. I know that Donna has some lovely photos, and I managed to get some good video footage - only trouble is I don't know how to get it to Donna. I am sure we will solve that problem soon, and it will be posted so you can all see for yourselves. We were lucky enough to be able to chat with the students, and some of their parents - Mushroom gives everyone a chance to achieve to the maximum of their ability - on equal terms. In our society where, despite enabling legislation, people who are differently mobile can have huge problems of access and involvement it was a joy. And as I said the big grins, giggles and obvious joy were the best testament there could possibly be to the success Mushroom is achieving. Despite that there are still problems of access at some of the theatres where they perform, and the student helpers were telling us about their having to take wheelchairs apart and then reassemble them inside doors theatre just not wide enough. And one lad with very limited mobility but a brilliant wheelchair that gives him a lot of independence, had to sit in one spot in the wings when he was off stage because there was not space for his chair to join all the other performers on the stage or even backstage. Penni is committed to providing the whole range of facilities that truly would enable all her students to fully participate. So a huge thank you to Penni for making us so welcome. To her students for their performances, company and lots of lovely hugs. And a special mention to both Stephanie and Alex - two of the Student Helpers - very special people. Both Donna and I were blown away by you all, and looking forward to seeing you again - albeit not for a few months. Now some up and coming fundraisers that Equal people have in their diary,we are invited to join in with. The first is on Friday 22nd February 7 pm- midnight. A Rock 'N' Roll night with live music by Zodiac, and a licensed bar. 50'sdress is optional It is being held at The Freight House in Rochford.Tickets are just £7 each (under 14's £3)Contact 01702 529731 or pauline.anderton@southend.ac.uk for tickets. Next is a Quiz night on Saturday 8 March starting at 7.30pm It's being held at Mushroom at Lubbards Farm, Hullbridge.Tickets are just £6 each (bring your own drinks and nibbles) For tickets contact 01268 773323 - How about an Essex Loppy team or 2?? You are also very welcome to join other teams. And finally Saturday 11 October is The Equal People Ball, to be held at the La Quinta Restaurant at Hadleigh. This one is £55 per ticket which includes a three course meal 1/2 bottle of wine (LushLoppies please note!!!) Drinks on arrival (see above comment) and an 11 piece band (Lushloppies may think its a 22 piece band) Tables seat 14 - I'm up for it - anyone else??? The tickets are available now from Mushroom, and are on a strictly first come first served basis. DETAILS WILL BE POSTED LATER FOR THIS ONE!!! 22nd December Kazzer's meeting with the GO left her a gibbering wreck!
I arrived in London in the morning and met up with some of the other Lovelees. We pitched ourselves in Maiden Lane ready to see the cast as they arrived for the Matinee. Most of the others were keen to see Tom, James, Dean, Russell and the others, but me and Chrissi were particularly keen to see Lee. He's still my last and first! I had a Christmas present and a card I'd made for Lee and a little gift from my son Alex. I had them in a gift bag with tehnicolour love hearts on it. I know Lee can be in a bit of a hurry at the stage door sometimes, so this way, it was all ready to just hand it to him. Typically Lee arrived just as we were chatting to James, but Rachey saw him and tipped me off. He was striding down the street looking totally gorgeous as ever, all in black! And no hat or big coat, despite it being pretty cold, so he must have been feeling better. I crossed the street and said "Hi" and asked him if he could spare a moment. He smiled and said "OK, but do you mind if I keep walking". So polite, bless him. So I trotted along beside him, which I expect looked funny, but I said "I just want to give you a Christmas present which is a little something I made for you" and I handed him the bag. He took it and said "Ah thanks, that is really sweet of you"! And I got the benefit of another dazzling smile.....OMG! By this time we were nearly at the stage door, and I did not want to hold him up. There were a few people blocking the stage door and I didn't want to hamper him getting past them, so I said "Bye, I'm looking forward to seeing the show". He did get a bit held up, so I took a couple of pics as he tried to get in the door. The show was great and Lee made me cry with CED again. The Dress Circle crowd were really great and nearly half of them got up for the Megamix. Me and Chrissi braved the scrum at the front of the theatre and I got a few nice pics and Lee signed my Album artwork and my CIN night program, which was fantastic! I was seeing the evening show as well, so we went back round to Maiden Lane and Squeed with the other LoveLees. James bought us a bag of doughnuts. What a sweetheart. It ended up being the only thing I ate all day! We saw Dean and had a lovely chat with him. Amazing guy! The time went by really fast and I dashed in to meet up with Ro in the Bar, but I missed her. The cast were really on fire for the evening show and Lee was jaw droopingly fantastic. There were quite a few Christmas references in the show, mostly from Dean. When Lee was raised up on the podium they put a Santa hat on his head. He looked so cute I screamed like mad! And I did the Megamix with Eric and one of the staff girls down by the railings at the front of the Dress Circle. Chrissi and I were back round the front afterwards and Donna and Ro and Another Donna and Liz and her friend were also there. Lee came out and Chrissi and I got some pics signed and I took some Photo's. Lee was in a very happy mood, laughing and grinning and being gorgeous. Toward those final moments, I knew he would come back down to our end before going in, so when he came back I asked him if I could give him a kiss. He grinned at me and leaned towards me and I planted a big kiss on his cheek! OMG OMG! A little stubbly, but soft and manly and gorgeous! When he pulled away I realised I'd left huge lipstick mark on his cheek. "Oh my God, I'm sorry" I said and he laughed and said "What have you done to me?". "I've left lipstick all over your cheek" I said and I reached up and tried to rub it off with my thumb! He was looking into my eyes and smiling and everybody else disappeared for a few seconds, as I realised what I was doing........Oh my, I was stroking his face!!!!. People were laughing and the moment was over. "Thank you sweetheart" I said, "Happy Christmas" and he grinned! And off he went to sign the last few things. I tried to get a few more pics, but my hands were shaking. I did get a couple with the remains of my lipstick on his cheek though! What a reminder I now have of that experience. What a lucky, lucky LoveLee I am. When Lee went inside, I burst into tears and I was laughing and crying at the same time as it suddenly hit me what I had done. Thanks for capturing that moment Ro. Not particularly flattering, but I quite like the pic you took of the "emotional aftermath". Thank goodness the girls were there to prop me up and give me a hug. Thank you everyone and a huge thank you to Lee.....I had a "Helluva Day". Luv Kazzer xxxxxxxxx P.S. I case you didn't spot it some pics have the remains of my lipstick on his face! - like this one below!
The signing, The Adelphi Theatre 22nd December 2007 - 'Excuse me Lee, what did you say?' I was lucky enough to have Row C tickets for this performance and took my Mum along for some close range viewing of the show! The show itself was awesome, Lee, Preeya, Dean etc... were magnificent but then again so were the rest of the cast. We whooped, cheers and clapped our hands sore as the confetti rained down in the auditorium. My last date with Joseph for 2007 had come to an end! What what a climax seeing Lee lifted aloft, Santa hat firmly covering those curls, the night was perfect. Mum and I left our seats and made our way outside, we decided not to wait as we had a longish drive home and we had been shopping since 10am! But just as we entered the lobby, Mum turn to me and said I think you should stay, I was worried that Lee might think I was overstepping the mark by staying again as I had already seen him on Thursday. It was my Mum said that she wanted to stay, so we left the theatre and stood next to the railing and waited for Lee. We were in fab company and met several other regulars; Ro, Kazzer, Liz, Maureen, Another Donna and Chrissi to name but a few. We chatted and giggled about the shaking hands and beating hearts. I could tell that Mum was having a ball! Then Lee came out and everyone cheered and Lee waved to his fans. Almost immediately Lee spotted me and came over and said 'Hello Donna!' and bent down to kiss me on the right cheek. WOW I thought and lots of people looked both envious and intrigued as to who I was. The next part is still difficult to digest, remember and believe, but true as God is my witness and the other aforementioned Lee fans too, Lee turned to me and said something along the lines of 'I need to get your number?' I don't know what I said or did at this point, it was like movie slow motion time and I think I must have looked totally bemused so Lee repeated it again. I know I said something along the lines of 'Are you serious' to which he relied, 'Yes, I need to contact you!' He told me to go to the Stage Door and leave my details with the security people there. I was shocked I was also aware that several people were now even more intrigued as I heard whispers going round that said things like 'Donna' and 'Lee Mead Appreciation Society.' Did I breathe, no I don't think that I did! But Lee continued to smile, wave and pass out his photos. He came back over to where we were standing and I think he signed Ro's promo copy of the single? and I introduced him to my Mum, Lee said 'Hello Mum!' and winked! After that we left to allow other people to get their Lee fix and we went round to the Stage Door to leave my contact details. I am not sure if the woman thought I was nuts, or whether Lee was nuts, but she produced a pen and paper for me to do the honours! Somehow, with a shaking hand I wrote down my details, left them for Lee, turned and left the theatre with the feeling of 'Did that actually happen?' I know that it is all completely above board and I am really not reading anything in to it as I know that it will be something to do with the site or the fundraising. However, I am glad that it did happen and just goes to show us again that Lee really is a lovely person even though it gave me another bout of 'Lee Induced Insomnia!!! The St Pancras Experience - 20th December 2007
Where to begin? Well if I told you that I almost didn't go to St Pancras, would you believe me? I was really tired, it had been a long Autumn term at school, the kids had been ill and the calendars had almost killed me, but it was my lovely husband who said that I had to go as I would be disappointed if I didn't! And yes, he was right, I went and boy was I glad that I did! I arrived at St Pancras at about 9.30am and it was freezing, a small group has already assembled and amongst them were a few faces I recognised from the theatre and it was nice to see some friendly faces. We all got chatting as we waited for Lee to arrive. I think it was Shirley who spotted him first as he came up in the glass lift and we waited for him to come up to the lever. As Lee came round the corner he smiled and waved and said 'Hello.' He was as usual looking resplendent, cool, composed, relaxed and happy! and of course, incredibly sexy! He introduced us to Flora who was there will him to open door 20 on 'The World's Largest Advent Calendar' Lots of photos were being taken by the ladies who were there, me included, it was great! It was after about a minute that Lee looked down and spotted me and winked, 'Hello Donna' he said and winked again! 'Hello Lee' I replied. He then said 'I'll speak with you in a second!' Wow not only did Lee recognise me, he wanted to speak to me too! That felt good. Gillian caught this moment on her fabulous video. Lee and Flora then pulled the lever to reveal a Gorilla which I think bemused and amused him somewhat! The official photos were taken as Lee turned to face the photographer, us ladies near the railings got an great vantage point of the ROTY; but I was good an refused to take a close range photo! I didn't think it was fair! Kirsten caught this bit too on her videos part one and two. Lee, Flora and the photographer then went to have photos taken in front of the calendar and Lee signalled for me to follow which I did. After the photos had been taken, Lee spoke to me. He was very keen to thank me and the site for the amazing Christmas card (thanks Helen for organising this) and he was very keen for me to post a message on the site to that effect, wishing everyone a Happy Christmas etc... Which I have done! We then talked about the calendars and I informed him that I had sold 394 and there were two on their way to him, one of which was for his parents. He thanked me for thinking of them. Lee then mentioned that he had received the card / letter from Jacob and that it was lovely, wished me a Happy Christmas and thanked me again. The next thing I knew is that Lee was giving me a hug and a peck on the cheek! Now you can understand why I was glad that I came, I think I didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day, hang on a minute - I am still smiling!!!!
Shirley presented Lee with a present from the Loppies and she was also rewarded with a hug and then he was gone, leaving us all in a tizz as we had all been Up Close and Personal with the GO!!!!!!! After we had regained some of our composure, we headed off for a coffee and a great team photo was taken! All in all it was another wonderful experience!
Mead Meets His Mistress - My meeting with Lee on 24th November to present the cheque!
Well the day finally arrived and after a rather surprisingly good night's sleep I woke up and remembered that today was LEE DAY! it was at that point I began to shake and panic about what I had to do and what I was to say? But I needn't have worried one little bit, Lee is one of those lovely people who immediately puts you at ease and it wasn't long before I realised that my nerves had gone and I was thoroughly enjoying being in the company of such a perfectly pleasant young man! Let me get the story right..... I arrived at the Adelphi at 1.30pm with Jacob my five year old son, with a beating heart and a nervous feeling in my tummy, I knew I had to meet Thomas at 1.30pm but where inside the theatre, at the Stage Door, I was unsure. Plucking up courage I rang the bell at the door and was let in. It was a nice feeling telling the guy on security that I had a meeting with Lee to present a cheque. It was then that Thomas made himself known to me, he was already there waiting and we soon got chatting. Incidentally another perfectly pleasant young man! Whilst we waited for Lee to arrive. Every opening of the door made me jump and my heart leap as it dawned on me again that in a few minutes I would be meeting Lee. Lee arrived a few minutes late but as he turned to be introduced to us, I soon forgave him as he shook Jacob's hand, ruffled his hair and smiled that devastating smile at us! Then it was my turn, Lee shook my hand warmly and lent forward to give me a kiss and welcomed us to the theatre and thanked us for coming. Thomas asked Lee is he would like a few minutes in his Dressing Room to get himself sorted before we came up, but Lee said no and that he was fine and that we should go straight up. So we made our way to the lift. While waiting for the lift, Lee chatted easily with us asking Jacob about his lost teeth and what the going rate was for the tooth fairy theses days! Jacob told him for his last tooth he got £5! Lee raised his eyebrows in a kind of 'that's a lot of money from the tooth fairy' kind of way and I quickly explained that the tooth fairy was out of change that night! Lee laughed and winked. The lift seemed to be a long time coming and Lee made small talk and again thanked me for all my support, this time giving me a massive bear hug and another kiss just below my eye!!! Bless him, but he seemed genuinely pleased to meet us! We decided that the lift was taking too long so Lee suggested we take the stairs, fine by us. Lee took Jacob by the hand and made his way up the two flights of stairs to his Dressing Room while me and Thomas followed behind. All the way up Lee chatted to Jacob about where he came from etc.. At the top of the stairs while Lee looked for his key he mentioned that he though my website was great and that he checked in every now and then to see what was going on. He said that his mum checked it more regularly though as he was really busy! But he did seem pleased with what I had done and was doing. We entered his Dressing Room and the first thing he did was offer us a drink. Jacob said yes and was offered a 'smoothie' and it was at this point Lee proudly produced a chocolate lollipop for Jacob - BLESS him! He clearly knew how to make this young boy feel at ease! Jacob said thank you and we chatted about the evils of chocolate when you have to wear a loin cloth each night!!!! Then it was time for the cheque presentation and we chatted about the phenomenal amount of money that was raised and Lee was clearly delighted by the efforts and the generosity of his fans and was talked about future fundraising events. Lee was on form, charming, witty and easy to chat to! Photos were taken and we all smiled. It was during the photos of me and Lee that he told me about an EXCLUSIVE but I couldn't put it on the site yet as he hadn't accepted!!! So I promised him that his secret was safe and it is, as I haven't told anyone!! So after that we sat down and chatted, Lee was called for some theatre check and said if we weren't busy we could wait for him to come back and that he would only be gone a moment. Busy, me nah! So we waited for him for about 3 minutes to do his stuff and then resumed the conversation. Jacob asked him about racing cars and he talked about Brands Hatch, we talked about the awesome atmosphere in the theatre on CIN night, his album and then Jacob asked him the ONE question he has been wanting to ask him since he won and that was about STAR WARS! Lee admitted he was in fact a fan and they proceeded to talk about their favourite characters. Jacob told Lee he liked Luke Skywalker and with that Lee bounded across to his wardrobe and produced his 'Luke Skywalker' costume AKA the while outfit and boots he wears at the beginning of Joseph. Lee already knew at this point that it was Jacob's 6th birthday next Friday and looking at me told him to ask his mummy for his own Luke Skywalker costume for his birthday while giving me one of his wicked winks!!!! 'Thanks Lee!' I replied! As Lee skipped back across his Dressing Room pretend light sabre in hand! We chatted some more until his wardrobe lady came in, Lee removed his shoes to reveal a little hole in his socks as he did and we felt that this should be out cue to leave as in 35 mins time Lee would be performing as Joseph!!! So we thanked him for his time, he thanked us, and with another kiss and a wink we left! Both Jacob and I smiling and happy and not believing how quickly time had passed! I can honestly say that Lee is one of the nicest people I have ever met; unassuming, charismatic, lively, thoughtful, interesting and the most beautiful human being in all senses of the word! Rather than feeling that I had met a 'superstar' today which of course I did, I really also felt as though I had met a friend too which I really was not expecting. I know that his Mum reads this site and if you are reading this Mrs Mead, then thank you for bringing up such a lovely son. It was truly an honour and a privilege to be invited to share his precious time this afternoon and an occasion that both Jacob and I will remember forever! Thanks Lee too, for just being you! ( PS I never told as I didn't have the 'balls' - I am 'Meadsmistress' !!) Donna XXXXXX Val and her kiss with the GO at the HMV signing in London on 19th November!
We travelled through the pouring rain
and stood for nearly three hours in HMV waiting for Lee. It was worth it
just to be in the same room with him. I was the woman on the video
telling Lee that we had travelled from Wales. He thought we were mad!
Ro's is the first one to get an album signed by Lee on Saturday 17th November! I was lucky enough (understatement of the year) to receive my copy of Lee's debut album on Friday afternoon before going that night to the CiN performance at the Adelphi. There were plenty of other loppies and lovelees at the show so will leave the reviews to them (save to say that the energy levels of the whole cast and the atmosphere in the auditorium was the best I've seen ... and I've seen a few!) I of course was hoping to get the album signed in the post-show scrum ... I took up my usual position on the wheelchair ramp by the brass railing and was chatting to fellow lovelees in the waiting crowd. I held up the album to show one of them and the lady behind her saw it and let out a little whoop ... so I held it up a bit higher and there was a huge cheer from the crowd! It was a great moment! Anyway, Lee emerged, looking as gorgeous as usual and incredibly bouncy, but time was tight because of his impending dash back to the TV studios and he didn't spot the album I was patiently holding out for him to sign ... oh well, another chance tomorrow ... I'd bought a ticket for the Saturday matinee at about 6pm on the Friday night and once again, the show itself was incredible - the energy levels off the scale and the whole cast on fire, I think feeding off what James Bisp had referred to as the 'opening night' atmosphere the previous night. But again, to the after-show ... there was a real buzz outside again, with a lot of the same lovelees from last night were back today and we took up our position along the brass railing and round the corner along the rope opposite the door Lee comes out from ... I had the album ready again ... absolutely determined to get it signed this time ... which caused more ripples. Howard (the rather severe security guy) came out for the shortest 'pre-Lee spiel' yet ... 'he'll hand out signed photos, then he'll do a signing' and went back in ... used to talk for about 10 seconds, guess he's getting bored of it all! but we're not, and I somehow don't think Lee is either ... he came out to the usual huge cheer, beaming from ear to ear ... I took one photo as he was handing out the signed pics, but it wasn't great and I decided to just put the camera away and concentrate on getting the album signed ... and gazing on the MeadStar ... So ... he did the handing out signed pics ... and came back over to where I was standing to start signing ... I was standing with my back to the door by the brass railing and, as usual, he started signing one 'row' further away from the doors ... I think he figures I've got enough things signed already! But I was holding the album out and said 'Lee, please sign the album ...' in a very plaintive voice! He turned to look with a 'what album' look on his face then saw it was his and did a complete double-take! He looked up at me, with the whole eyebrow thing going on and said 'oooh, early release!' and signed it ... I'm guessing the very first time he signed his own album for someone ... that was a really special moment for me *THUD* OK, have picked myself off the floor again for the moment ... there's more! He moved along the line a little, signing programmes and tickets, then looked back at me and said 'did you like it?' aaaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! I have no idea what I said, but it was along the lines of 'I love it, it's fabulous ...' he looked back at what he was signing saying 'I'm very proud of it' and I said 'so you should be, it's superb' ... before he turned away, he looked back at me and winked with the most gorgeous 'pleased-as-punch' look on his face ... I could have kissed him (well, obviously ... but especially so at that moment!) I'm not sure what I did while he moved away along the line ... think I may have squeeeeed a little and would definitely have thudded had I not been held up by the press of humanity and the door behind me! He spent ages out there signing, went back and forth several times along the line, maybe because he was missing the evening signing session to hare over to the BBC to record his bit for SCD ... Then it was over, 'that's all we have time for' was called and he came back to the centre door to wave goodbye ... the last thing he did before he turned away in the doorway was to look straight into my eyes and grin ... I don't know how long he'll remember the first time he was asked to sign his album, but I sure as hell will remember it all my life ... and here it is ...
Helen's Up Close and Personal - she says 'Its a bit unfortunate!' Friday 9th NovemberI had planned to spend a day in London with my OH with it in mind to check for returns for the show that evening. So we did the London Eye and Westminster Abbey and at about midday we went to check for returns at the Adelphi and I was told that there were but they had been sold. I was so gutted. We went to get some lunch which I could barely eat because I was so depressed. After lunch I went back and the guy at the box office said 'I am going to make your day...we have 2 tickets in Row K stalls bang in the middle'. I literally screamed and handed over my card no questions asked!! I spent the afternoon skipping around Covent Garden soooo happy! I had also arranged to meet Christine who I met on the other Lee website at the stage door to try and meet Lee. We met around 4.30pm and waited around (it was freeeeezing!) There were a few moment when we thought we saw him and there was a moment when Christine thought she saw the guy that plays Benjamin but 'he' just turned out to be a woman!! Was v funny!! Anyway, about 6.30pm, I spotted Lee walking along the road and my heart stopped and I excitedly whispered to Christine, 'there he is'. He stopped to talk to some people on our right for a while and when he left them we pounced! I really can't remember much he said other than 'are you coming to see the show tonight'...I could barely think straight let alone produce a sentence! Anyway, I took a piccy of him and Christine and then he put his arm around me (Yay!!) for my photo. He mentioned that he was in a rush so we didn't want to keep him and I thought my picure had taken. It was only after he'd gone that I realised it hadn't!! I was so disappointed I can't describe! So then Christine left to go home (she is lovely!) and I went to meet my very patient other half who had sat by himself in a pub whilst I was waiting for Lee! We went to the show and it was soooooo amazing. I can't believe his voice...so strong and powerful. Just as perfect as the other time I went. Still wearing his little ankle support tho, but to be honest, when he's in his loincloth, I ain't looking at his ankle!!!!! I was practically dancing in my seat at the end and wanted to get up and dance along with them all on stage! At the end, the arms hurt from clapping and my voice hoarse from all the whooping!! Then I waited outside again and he came out in all his gorgeousness and gave me a signed photo and another autograph. As he signed my autograph, he looked at me sort of double took me, and then smiled at me and said 'hello'. He must have recognised me!! I was sooo happy. So anyway, this morning I so wanted my photo with Lee so I went back up to London to catch him before the matinee today. I was at the Strand an hour after leaving my house. I hung around in the freezing cold again and then I saw him and he looked so so so so gorgeous in a black suit and purple shirt striding along the pavement! He was stopped by another girl and he looked up at me smiling. So...get this. I try to take a photo of us again...another arm around waist!!!!!!! and again he says, 'I'm in a rush' so I'm fiddling around pointing the camera the wrong way and getting embarrassed. I thought it had taken and he did ask me 'has it taken?' and I said yes. So he walks away and I realised it hadn't!! I literally could have cried!!! Luckily, I was meeting a friend for lunch so she sorted me out. It gives me another excuse to meet him for a third time tho! So although a couple of rather unfortunate camera moments, I met Lee twice in 24 hours!! All in a days work!! Roll on Monday 19th!! Lee...here I come (again!!)
All right you Loppies, sit to attention !!!!!! I had a close encounter with Himself today !!!! Yes, it's true and yes I did. I was making my way from Charing Cross to the pub behind the Adelphi when I saw this young man going into a newsagent. I thought:"That is Lee." And it was. So i just waited outside, not loitering, not lurking, just waiting! When he came towards me I said"Lee ?" He stoppd, looked at me and said "Yes?"
Me:"
I hope you don't mind me talking to you." Then he disappeared up the road. I swear this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The rest of the day was also lovely, I'll just sit here and grin and remember. He is sooooooo beautiful, and those eyes !!!!!!! Kazzer's Up Close And Personal Account 22nd October 2007
I had booked to see Joseph just after Lee won the role on ADWD, but all I could get was the back of the main block in the upper circle, as I had to book for 23rd October during half term. Fortunately I’d been lucky enough to get returns to see the show twice in August, but I was still looking forward to this trip as I was going with my son Alex aged 7 and it was to be his first time seeing the show. Amazingly we also managed to get tickets for the extra matinee that day, so we were due to see the show twice. Dee and Sue and Jackie from the LoveLees forum at Lee-Mead.org.uk had made Lee a teddy bear dressed up in an amazing coloured coat (they called him Dotorg)and gave it to Lee for his birthday. I thought this was a great idea and being a big fan of Lee in the gold outfit he wears in the show when he becomes Pharoah’s right hand man (love those gold boots!), I thought it would be fun to have a go at making a teddy dressed in that for Lee as a present. I wanted to give him something I had put some effort and love into and that would be unique. I made that little guy and called him Goldie.
Dee had organised for another coloured coat “Dotorg” teddy to be made, by the wonderful Jackie and they got his little vest signed by Lee and put him into a raffle on the LoveLees forum for Children in Need. I thought I could do the same and make a second Goldie and donate him as a second prize in our raffle. Even better, what if could get Lee to sign his little gold belt? So that was my mission. Give Lee his present and get him to sign the gold belt for Goldie Mark II, for our raffle. What a good excuse to get up close and personal with the gorgeous one! Having seen Lee at the stage door before, I knew what it was likely to be like for the Matinee on 23rd, being the school holidays and knowing that so many of the LoveLees from the forum were going. Alex was keen to meet Lee and very much wanted to get a photo with him. His Mum had one after all, so why shouldn’t he? I was concerned that it would be too busy and Lee would not have time to stop and chat. So we went on Monday 22nd. I took the kids (my eldest son Jack, aged 17 came too) to the Natural History museum then late in the afternoon we headed up to the Adelphi to see if we could see Lee arrive for the evening show. We had Goldie in a lovely gold gift bag and my plan was to let Alex give it to Lee knowing how good he is with kids. We only waited about half an hour and Lee came strolling up the road, looking amazing as ever in jeans and black shirt and black jacket. Enough to make a poor girls heart flutter already! “Here he is” I said to Alex and Alex went up to him holding out the bag. Lee saw him and a big smile came on his face and he bent down and asked Alex what his name was and what he had got. Poor Alex was struck totally dumb (funny because normally you can’t shut him up!) and just stands there holding out the bag to Lee. Enter Mum stage right. “This is Alex and I’m Karen and this is a present I made for you”. Alex handed it to him and he took it and had a peek inside. Big smile “Ahh look at that, thank you so much”. “Ah well” I said “I’m a big fan of you in the gold outfit”. Lee looked into my eyes and grinned. Oh my God that smile! “Thanks” he said again. “Could you do me a huge favour?” I said. He’s looking at me with those eyes. “I’m one of the LoveLees “ I said and I opened up my jacket and flashed him my chest, bearing a big LoveLee logo on my T-shirt.( I can’t believe I did that!). He did that thing with his eyebrows, where they disappear under the curls and grinned at me again. Oh God I’m melting now and blushing rather profusely. I press on regardless. “I’m making another one of these teddy’s to give away as a prize in our raffle on behalf of Children in Need and I wondered if you would be so kind as to sign this belt I have made for it?” I’m getting it out of my folder to show it to him. “Yeah sure, no problem, have you got a pen?” I have a mini Sharpie on a key-ring dangling from my handbag. “Yes here”. I’ve got this green folder with KAZZER in big letters in marker pen on it. The belt was in there and my Joseph tickets and some photo’s of Lee I’m hoping to get him to sign at the front door. I use that to rest it on so he can sign it, but the pen slips at first. “Oh it’s a bit tricky to write on” he says looking into my eyes again. “Here,” I say and I put my fingers on it to steady it and he has another go and our fingers touch and our heads are really close together and he keeps looking at me, and it’s really kind of intimate. So that’s it. I’m a gone. I start shaking and my knees have gone all wobbly, but he’s still smiling at me. “Any chance of a photo?” I ask him. I’m trying to get the lid back on the pen, but I can’t do it as I’m shaking so much. “Er sorry”, I mumble. He see’s I’m getting a bit flustered. “Are you OK”? he asks. “Er yes sorry, I’m just a little bit, you know, overwhelmed” I mutter and show him my shaking hands. “It’s OK” he said giving me another of his stunning smiles. As if that’s going to help, as I’m total mush now. I’ve left him holding my folder while I try to get the stupid lid back on the pen. “What’s this?” he asks. “Oh that’s just all my photos of you, never mind about those”. DOH! Why didn’t I show him them. He might have signed a few! I was so conscious of the fact that I was taking up his time. “He’s still grinning at me and hands it back”. Oh God he’s so darned cute, my mind’s gone blank.
“You got a camera?” he asks “Oh yes” (blimey I almost forgot, we were going to get a photo with him.), “Jack” I gesture to my eldest son who has been lurking and looking somewhat embarrassed in the background. We get into a huddle. I get to put my arm around Lee’s waist and give him a bit of a squeeze and Lee puts his arm over my shoulder and his other arm over Alex’s shoulder and he bends forward a bit so he is more on a level with us shorties and Jack takes the picture. “Thank you so much sweetheart” I say to Lee. “S’OK” he says. “We’re back tomorrow to see that show” I say as he’s getting ready to walk away. “Oh great” he says “I hope you enjoy it”. “Oh we will! Bye. Thanks”. He’s gone up the road and into the stage door and I’m standing there watching his back and trying to breathe and stop my knees from shaking. Poor Alex is in much the same shape. He hasn’t said a word. What a sweet, wonderful, awe-inspiring guy Lee is. There was so much else I wanted to say to him, like well done on his awards and what great news it is about his album, but I lost it. My mission was accomplished and it’s a fabulous memory to treasure though, so I’ve no regrets. Allison was the lucky person to win the competition to meet Lee in his dressing room, she did just that on Saturday 13th October - want to see her photos....??? Well here they are!!! and a wonderful account!
What a fantastic day! As you know I won the competition run by Lee’s agents to meet him in his dressing room at the Adelphi Theatre. My friend, Pam and I went yesterday. We were like nervous wrecks before the meeting! I had to have a strong espresso in the pub next door and whilst I was ordering it Pam saw Lee arrive! So at least we knew we would definitely see him. Claire had told us to tell the Stage Door we were there to see Piers & Lee. As we waited to sign in various brothers arrived and went through. We expected Piers to come down and meet us but the girl told us just to go up. We arrived at THE door with his name on and timidly knocked. Piers opened the door and said ‘I was going to come down and fetch you. Just wait a moment’. When the door opened again Lee was there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He shook hands with us and said ‘Hello. I’m Lee’!! We were introduced to Piers and his wife, Tess as well and Lee told us to take a seat. We sat on the sofas in the corner area and Lee asked if we would like a drink? He said he had some champagne – how could we refuse? Piers opened and poured the champagne and said congratulations for winning! Lee didn’t seem to know what the competition had been, so I explained. He probably thought we’d just turned up out of the blue! Then we just chatted. The time passed in a flash and as I try to recall it, it’s like a blur. We obviously talked about ADWD and about the show, we also talked about theatre in general and about audiences. Lee said he hopes Joseph is bringing in people who are new to theatre, although he agreed the West End is very expensive for families. He says he is really enjoying the show but feels it is a tremendous responsibility with such huge advance sales. He hasn’t missed a show yet! He thinks being in the business already helped with the stamina required for 8 shows a week. He knew what he was letting himself in for. He said on ADWD it was quite hard sometimes when you were allocated songs you would not normally choose to sing. It was also hard when some of the others got songs he would have preferred and could have done better! He said the boys laughed when he was given Paint it Black because it was such a gloomy song!!! Who got the last laugh though? He talked about the charities he supports, particularly Mushroom Theatre Company which works with able bodied and people with disabilities. They are aiming to create their own centre, which is a massive project. I told him what a great job Donna is doing and how well the Children in Need fundraising is going. He was impressed! He has done a couple of trailers for CIN which will be shown soon. The big news I learned is that he is recording an album to be released next month!!! He is in the studio from 10- 4 every day – no wonder he is shattered! He is about to film the video for the single which is likely to be – Paint it Black!!!!!!!!! We told him we were seeing the show that evening and he said he hoped we enjoyed it because it’s a great cast – he’s right, it is. Before we left it was photo time. I could not believe I was standing there with Lee’s arm around my waist. Talk about a dream come true!!! All too soon it was time to leave – a kiss and a hug (swoon) and we were gone. All afternoon we walked around in a daze, pinching ourselves because we could hardly believe it had happened. Lee is a really nice and generous guy and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to meet him. The show last night was just the icing on the cake. We had perfect seats – centre of Row J and we loved every minute. The girl sat next to me said they had got the last 2 tickets that morning and they were in London attending a conference on ‘Happiness’. I showed her my photos on the camera and said ‘That’s happiness’. We even waited outside afterwards to see Lee come out. Pam got a signed photo and at the bus stop we met a couple who told us they were in London to celebrate their Ruby Wedding. Their sons had booked them a hotel and tickets. She said she was sorry she couldn’t have got a photo and Pam gave them hers. We have our own very special memories of a wonderful day. This photo below sums it all up for me!! Thanks Allison!!!!
Carolyn and Rachael are very pleased it was a LONG ESCALATOR!!!!! Report from our visit to see Joseph at the end of August and our very close encounter with Lee. Had central front row seats for an even closer look on this 3rd visit to see Joseph. Took Daughter-Rachael who decided she would like to see the show. I decided as a nice present for passing her exams and her driving test first time I would also book a hotel nearby and take her shopping the next day as a special treat. Took up our position in front row-waved at the orchestra in the pit and they grinned and waved back as they warmed up. Rachael said if everyone starts clapping during the songs I’m not into that. Curtain goes up – Lee ‘arrives’ on stage to tumultuous applause and soon the clapping along starts ,after a few seconds I notice her leg tapping along and then the hands start going together- I look round with a ‘told you so look’ and all I got was a huge grin. She loved it thought all the performances were wonderful and said CED made her spine tingle-know that feeling well! That was it I knew she was as smitten as me! Later we waited outside and were in a great position. Kids were moved to the front but we were right behind them. Had a great photo I had printed out and she managed to get it signed-much to Lee’s amusement as it was a great photo but he laughed about it being a bad hair day-not in our opinion though.. Then it was over-a little girl in front of us was crying -not sure who she belonged to so we asked her why and she hadn’t got one of the handout photos so Rachael gave her the one she had been given. Her face was a picture-so proud of Rachael for doing that. Back to hotel in bar for very stiff drink –barmaid asked where we had been and saw photo – said wow nice. Rachael said just bring me the bottle of Malibu and a straw, I need it to recover , she was so on a high at the chat etc. Good laugh in bar with staff. Didn’t sleep well for obvious reasons (either of us) still going over it all. Anyway next day off to the shops-got the tube and as we were coming up the escalator Rachael was above me and she turned to talk to me and her face changed and she said at me ‘He’s behind you’- who? ‘Lee’ to which I replied ‘Don’t be silly’ thinking she was joking. Her face changed and through clenched teeth she hissed ’really’. I turned round and on the step behind me looking downwards (no-one else behind us at all) was a very unmistakeable curly head within a few inches of me! Managing to still stay upright (no idea how) I turned back to her, before I could say anything to her, she very quietly said ‘Lee’ and he turned as if to say is it me someone’s talking to or someone else. Luckily this was a long escalator. She said ‘That was a great show last night’-‘oh you were there’ big grin –‘Yes you signed for me too’,’ Did I? There were so many people there’-‘yes mine was the bad hair day one’ ‘Oh it was you-I remember now’. ‘Did you enjoy the show’ ‘Very much and to be honest I didn’t think it would be my sort of thing but it was so good I will be back soon- Mum’s been 3 times now’-look of amazement at me’, He said ‘The whole cast are such a great bunch- great to work with we enjoy it’ I told him that I had been at the ALW Gala performance on the previous Sunday and how good it was-he was really surprised and said ‘Really you were there- it was my first concert ever and I was just so nervous’. I said ‘Well you covered the nerve |
