Birmingham Hippodrome Gala Dinner 2014.

Birmingham Hippodrome Gala Dinner.

It’s been a busy May so far…on virtually consecutive nights I recently covered the National Housing Federation Awards Evening, an exhibition opening at mac Birmingham and then on the Saturday night, the big one, the Birmingham Hippodrome’s biennial Gala Dinner (… and I haven’t even mentioned the daytime jobs!).

The Hippodrome’s spectacular gala dinner was attended by 300 VIP guests from the region’s business community. The guests were entertained by specially commissioned entertainment provided by a glittering cast featuring some of the biggest names from London’s West End musicals. These included Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera star Earl Carpenter, Anna O’Byrne, Jodie Prenger (Nancy from Oliver) and Mary Poppins Star Caroline Sheen.

As the diners were seated on the main stage the performances mainly took place on a specially constructed stage area over the stalls with Earl Carpenter’s ‘Phantom’ dramatically appearing on the balcony to duet with Anna O’Byrne (a real show stealer).

Through the course of the evening I found myself front of house, in the main reception area, backstage with the catering staff, in the circle getting views of the stage, with the chefs plating up, circulating between tables during dinner, capturing all the entertainment, the auction, the dinner service and even hanging off the fly tower to capture pictures like the one above.

The event raised nearly £50,000 on the night from the auction and donations. Hippodrome Chief Executive Stuart Griffiths is pictured below with sponsors, supporters, trustees and performers at the end of the successful evening.