Dare To Dream - Looking Back At Fame U.K. Reunion 2019

In 2015 I attended my first Fame Reunion in Italy and my Dreams of meeting the cast and being with other wonderful fans all expressing our love and gratitude, came true. However, when it was over I felt a little lost and uncertain.

 It was such an amazing time and this kind of experience needed to be shared with other. This couldn’t be the end, it simply couldn’t. It felt like a beginning but at the same time there was uncertainty of what the future held and how I could personally be involved.

I wrote the following in my Diary:

“My new dream is a U.K. concert and Fame convention in London. I have no experience of this kind of thing and no contacts in the entertainment business but somehow I want to make this happen.”

Flash forward to 2017 and my second Fame Reunion in Italy. Everything was bigger and better and I talked with Sue Hinds, who also Dared to Dream of a Fame U.K. Reunion. However, she had already spent the previous 6 months putting things into place. She had the cast on board and was starting to look at venues. I made it clear that I wanted to be involved.

In early 2018 the plans started to come together and I joined the small team planning for a U.K. Reunion in 2019. As well as helping with the initial planning for the concerts and publicity, I pitched the idea of a Convention, which I was asked to take responsibility for. One of the major things that struck me at my first Reunion was how the fans wanted to spend time together and get to know each other and I wanted to create a space for that to happen.

 So it all began a 15 month Rollercoaster ride of a lifetime, with so many highs but at the same time so many lows.

It was 15 months of never ending sheer hard work. With limited resources and funding we had to do everything ourselves. None of us was being paid so that every penny of the money raised could go to the Claire House Children’s Hospice charity.  This was all on top of our normal everyday lives and responsibilities.

It was a very intense journey and the stakes were high. Sometimes my own self doubts got the better of me but I didn’t want to let the cast down or the fans down. However, at times things just got too much. I can admit that the stress and the pressure certainly affected my health at times and Looking back it was the best of times but also the worst of times.

Plans were made that didn’t work out. Promises of help were made and promises broken. Hopes were raised and hopes dashed. However, being financially responsible for the Fame Family Experience Convention, I just had to weather the storms and keep on going.

Finally the Reunion Weekend was up on us. Excited fans, who never thought a U.K. Reunion would be possible, were starting to arrive in Liverpool and all the planning and hard work started to come together.

We danced, we sang, we laughed, we cried. We made new friends and remembered old friends no longer with us. We shared a magical time together. A time none of us will ever forget.

Now it’s over and life returns to normal. The out pouring of love has been overwhelming. People are talking about future reunions and now anything and everything seems possible.

Thanks to everyone who Dared To Dream. We Did It! Just like the happy ending of a Fame Episode storyline WE DID IT!

Be Proud, Be Inspired and always continue to Dare To Dream!

Much Love,

Mark