It’s not every day you stand up on a West End stage in front of a couple of hundred Christian Slater fans. Last week, I braved the hoards of oestrogen-laden ladies– and came out relatively scar free. They discussed backstage antics, card tricks and pants… but did Christian hand over his chewing gum to the fanatical fan in the front row? Wouldn’t you like to know.

There’s something about a Q&A night… the pre-show buzz of the fans as they try to construct a question with just the right ‘wow, look at me’ factor. The free flowing wine and the nervous electricity zapping each fan that walks through the door.

The latest Q&A evening for work was no exception – in fact, the excitement bounced off the punter’s bodies with gusto. And what a lot of bodies there were… over 300 people came to the lastminute.com ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ evening. Judging by the perfectly made-up faces that walked through the door, precious hours had been put into achieving the perfect ‘Christian Slater look’. I’ve never seen so many minis (and I don’t mean cars) at the theatre. Crimped locks were also the chosen ‘do’ for the night.

I will not deny that the buzz we all heard came directly from the butterflies battering themselves senseless inside my stomach. Unlike the crowd, I was due to take my place directly in front of the firing line. As hostess for the night, it was my job to control the masses, introduce the stars and keep things moving. Luckily, the management and backstage crew at the Garrick Theatre are a tight and exceptionally well-organised lot. There was no time for nerves… the play finished, the crowd roared (again, a moving performance by all – there’s something about a bunch of men playing absolute loonies) and I found myself ushered through the stage door, past the sweaty cast members (ooh la la) and into the dark depths of backstage.

Before I knew it, the microphone was in my hand, the iron curtain rising and the cast members joining me on stage. Somehow, they’d managed to go from sweaty to immaculate in a matter of ten minutes. Once settled, the pace was quick and no time was wasted before the barrage of questions came towards us from the stalls. I felt an overpowering surge of pity for the rabbits we used to see on the road home in Australia. Once caught in the bright lights of our headlights they froze in fear.
In case you were wondering, Rebecca Grant (Nurse Flynn) pulls a mean card trick, Alex Kingston (Nurse Ratched) is the self-proclaimed pre-show-nerves sufferer and Christian Slater is the best kisser. No really, they told us so.

Any hostess-induced stage fright was banished before we even hit the stage. The entire cast was willing to talk freely, and we found ourselves witness to a good dose of humour and banter – definitely a hard task after a gruelling performance. There’s no denying it; the fans lapped up the ‘third half’ and caught a rare glimpse into the characters behind the characters.

One customer’s comment summed it up… “A truly awesome night! The play was better than I could have expected, the acting fantastic and the Q&A just rounded off a perfect night! I felt part of something very special.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Oh, and the chewing gum requesting fan? She walked away gum-less. I guess some things are too good to part with.