[ P R E M I E R E S ] [ S C R E E N I N G S ]

Just six days after UKMark and DutchMark reunited to attend the taping of Charlotte’s appearance on the Jonathan Ross show, we were back again in London. We had been invited to attend the première of “I’ll Be There”. Naturally, we gladly accepted!

UKMark collected DutchMark from the airport and, after having lunch, we headed to UKMark’s house to get ready. This tickets said to dress “smart casual” and since this was billed as “the big and glitzy one”, we both decided to wear a jacket and tie.

Unfortunately there was no limousine to bring us to the cinema (!), so we had to settle for a train and subway ride to Leicester Square. We arrived at around 6pm with some time to spare before the “stars” and ourselves (!) were due to make our way into the cinema.

Already the photographers, reporters and TV crews were lining up in readiness for the the best shots and interviews. The crowd was growing all the time and waited eagerly behind the crush-barriers. These were all adorned with posters for the film.

At around 19.10, Jemma Redgrave arrived in a silver Mercedes. She spent around 10 minutes in front of the crowds and frenetic photographers before heading inside the cinema where reporters were waiting to interview her.

We waited until about 19:20 for Charlotte and the other cast members to arrive but there was no sign of them. By now most of the other invited guests had already made their way into the cinema. We therefore decided it was time we joined them and made our way down 'the red carpet'.

Although we were to miss Charlotte’s arrival we knew it would be well covered on the TV news programmes over the next 24 hours. There were so many camera and reporters present! As you can see from the TV pictures, Charlotte arrived with her family – her mum and dad, auntie Caroline, nan and bampy. She took time to talk to her fans and sign autographs and pose for the swarm of media photographers. After the photo shoot she made her way into the cinema for several interviews.

Meanwhile, we were making our way to the auditorium, past the sign saying ‘private function’!  The cinema probably seated about 500 people, and by the time we entered, most of the seats were taken. We spotted two seats in the center about 7 rows from the front so we were sure to have a great view.

At around 19:40, a host appeared on stage and welcomed everyone to the screening. After the usual announcements (cell phones off etc!) he introduced Craig Ferguson onto the stage. As you may know, Craig wrote, produced and starred in the film as Charlotte’s father. Craig talked enthusiastically about the film for a while, before welcoming seven of the cast members (including Charlotte of course) to join him on stage. His introduction for Charlotte was very funny, referring with a wink to the things that had been published in the tabloids lately. Charlotte looked absolutely stunning in her beautiful dress.

The stars left the stage, the lights went down, the curtains opened and …. the film began. We won’t say too much about the film here as this would spoil it for you. (Neither are we going to tell you why there is a lama on the film poster . We will however tell you that  we loved the film. The opening scene will certainly give you goose bumps – it’s so beautiful. We had seen Charlotte’s earlier acting moments in TV’s  ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Touched By An Angel’ programs, but this is in a completely different league. We were so impressed by her acting and screen presence – she is such a natural actress. Also the film is much funnier than we expected. It is very much a ‘British movie’ with British humour. We can’t wait to see it again with friends and family when it goes on general release.

As the closing credits rolled we slowly made our way out of the auditorium. We felt so privileged to have been able to play a small part in this special evening for Charlotte. Already this had been one special trip for us. Then we spotted Craig Ferguson, just a few feet in front of us. As we continued down the stairs, there were Jemma Redgrave and Charlotte! On their way out they were giving autographs, protected from the enthusiastic crowds by a few security personnel.

As Charlotte reached the foyer she found a spot to stand and signed a few more items for the gathering fans. The next few moments are all rather hazy (!) but somehow we found ourselves in front of Charlotte to said ‘hello’.

As DutchMark handed Charlotte his copy of the single, he said “Hi Charlotte, do you recognize us, we met at the Gloria Hunniford show?”. It was then that she looked up and said “Oh, hi, yes I do!”. UKMark had his copy of the single signed and an extra copy that he had bought along for Dave. Charlotte asked a funny question about how we had managed to get these singles. Apparently she doesn’t have a copy herself yet!

We then asked if it would be OK to take some pictures of us with Charlotte. Whilst we were working out where to put our CDs and how we would take the pictures, a lady stepped in and offered to take a picture of the three of us together. The picture speaks for itself! At the same time, one of her team reminded Charlotte that “these are the guys from the website” but judging from Charlotte’s response it sounded like we did not need any further introduction.

During the taking of the picture we complimented Charlotte on her performance and said we really loved the film. Since a few other people (!!!) were waiting to get an autograph as well, we thanked her and said goodbye.

We then spotted Maria, Charlotte’s mum, and we took the opportunity to chat with her very briefly. We had met previously at the Hyde Park concert and outside the studio for the recording of the Gloria Hunniford show. UKMark said DutchMark had flow over from the Netherlands to be here and we had to get up very early again since he was flying back at 6am the next morning. Maria said Charlotte had to get up early as well for a number of TV interviews. Finally we said hello to James but, by then, Charlotte’s party was starting to make their way outside.

A couple of silver Mercedes were waiting for the “stars” to take them to the after show party. Unfortunately there wasn’t one for us (!) so it looked like we were to take the subway and train again.

As the cinema staff were getting ready to close the doors, we decided we would see if we could get a couple of posters as souvenirs so we went back inside and asked one of the organizers. To our delight, the guy duly handed over two posters which had been displayed in the foyer. This was actually more than we had bargained for since these posters were mounted on hardboard for display purposes and could not be rolled up! It was quite a challenge getting them home but we made it. Just need to work out how to get DutchMark’s over to Holland!

This had been an unbelievable evening, far exceeding our expectations!

Until next time,
UKMark and DutchMark
 

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