Well since I am a huge fan of The League of Gentlemen I couldn't resist on going to see Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith live on stage in London. The 3-man-play "Art" has interested me for quite some time and this time I simply HAD to see it.

Before the show I had enough spare-time to search for the stagedoor, which is a little bit tricky to find since it's located on a different road. Of course I planned to meet the Gents after the show. A friend of mine had already told me that all 3 of them are very kind and will be out approximate 30 minutes after the show.

I had a front row seat and had the chance to see everything very closely. It was soooo great to sit right in front of the people you like that much and in that theatre the front row is very close to the stage. Fortunately not many things happened on the floor, because that would have been very difficult for me to see.

After the show I went straight to the stagedoor. All day long there was nearly nice weather for a change, but as things are, it was pouring down when I left the theatre. Well, half an hour of rain isn't my cup of tea, so I tried to find some shelter close to the stagedoor. I didn't reach the place I was planning to wait, when Steve left the building. Unfortunately he couldn't see me and I wasn't very fond of some kind of shouting. Before I completely realised what has happened Reece was on his way home as well. So I went to the stagedoor really fast, to have at least the chance to meet Mark. I first asked him if he had a few minutes and when he said "of course" I told him that I came over from Germany just to see the play. The first thing Mark did was to call Reece and Steve back. They turned round and really returned to the stagedoor, although it was still raining.

I guess you can imagine that I was very nervous, everything was happening so fast and unexpected. Just to make sure I won't forget it, I first handed over a friend's photo to Mark to sign it for her. When Steve took a look at the photo he recognised her and remembered that he had spoken with her some time ago. I also bought the Christmas Special DVD the very same day and had the inlet of it ready to be signed. All three of them signed it as well as a photo I printed at home. When Mark saw the picture (Mickey and Pauline - take a look beneath) he laughed and this was very cute somehow *sigh*.

There was one thing I really liked to ask them which I did. For those who are not aware of the show... during the second series and later in the Christmas Special there is character, Herr Lipp, from Germany and there are large part just in German with no extra translation and it's really, really well done. As I expected Steve writes all the German lines and I told him that this is excellent work. He kindly replied "Danke schön" which was very sweet. Unfortunately it didn't come to my mind to tell them that I actually live near Duisburg (home of the Lipp's). I'd like to see their reaction to that *gg*. I asked them if they had heard about it, that the first two series were aired in a dubbed version on German telly and they really knew that. Mark said, that he would like to see this and I replied that it's not so well done and that it's totally different to it's origin.

Can you imagine that situation I was in :o)? To have the chance to talk to 3 of the most gorgeous men all on my own who were so kind as to take some of their time just to talk to me. It was so kind of them and I will remember this meeting for a very long time. Mark and Steve both talked a lot with me, Reece was very quiet that day, but also very kind. At the last moment 2 women found the way to the stagedoor and asked for an autograph, but otherwise I was all alone with Mark, Reece and Steve. 

Of course I wasn't able to get a good night's sleep that night ;o). That was something really special to me and you can't stop thinking and smiling about it. During that time I realised that I forgot to take a picture. Bad luck *gg*. I also remembered that there is a possibility to see 4 parts of  The League of Gentlemen on the network's site, which broadcast LoG in German. I could have given that link to Mark.

The next day I went to the former Half Price Ticket Booth at Leicester Square to see if there are tickets left for any good play. I decided to see another play that evening. There were only two plays that interested me: THE PLAY WHAT I WROTE (which I had seen in 2001 in Liverpool before) and ART. So I had to decide which one I was about to see again. It was a kind of easy decision. Of course I took the chance to see Mark, Reece and Steve again on stage. 

This time I had a seat in row L where I could see very well, too. I had my camera and the link to the network's (ProSieben) homepage with me that day.  Just when the play was finished I tried to rush out of the theatre as fast as possible. At least it wasn't raining that evening. Reece left the theatre at first and I asked him if I could take a picture. He said of course and while taking the picture I told him that the audience was much better than the day before. He replied that there were less people in the audience and that they really were much better than the day before. Not long after Reece has left, Mark and Steve both left the theatre and when I asked them if I was allowed to take a picture they both hugged each other and it was so great to take such a lovely picture. After the picture was taken I asked Mark if he is connected to the internet and then gave him the link to the network. Unfortunately I didn't know the correct one by heart and I explained to him that he just had to tape "League of Gentlemen" and he will be able to find it then. He told me that he would try it. Strangely enough I was all on my own again and so this time it ended much earlier than the day before, but it was a real pleasure to talk to them again.

I am kind of curious if Mark really took a look at the dubbed parts. If I ever will get an answer to this, I will gladly put it on my site.

This was my story, meeting the Gents. I won't forget this for a very long time and it's amazing how kind the stars are. You just have to talk to them in a usual way and don't try to do anything embarrassing ;o).

That's all.

Maggi

PS: If you are daring you can take a look at the videos here.

(from left: Mark as Mickey and Steve as Pauline - Photo: ProSieben) signed on  December, 2 nd 2002  by  Mark, Steve and Reece
Steve and  Mark on December, 3 rd 2002  in London Dani, I could hug you a thousand times for that one :o)!!!	Reece on December, 3 rd 2002  in London
signed on December, 2 nd 2002 by Mark, Reece and Steve