''Showstopper! The Improvised Musical'' is an

improvised comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

show founded in London in 2008. It has toured the UK extensively, usually sells out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe every year, had its own BBC Radio 4 series in 2011 and performed a 10-week run in London's West End in 2015, for which it won an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

. The idea of the show was conceived at a workshop that two of the creators attended in London. The objective of the show is to improvise a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

based on suggestions from the audience. The audience provides the show setting, title and several musicals or musical theatre composers whose styles are then pastiched in the show. It is chaired by Dylan Emery and Sean McCann and stars Jonathan Ainscough,

Ruth Bratt Ruth Bratt is an English actress and comedian. Bratt has appeared in the BAFTA award winning BBC2 series '' People Just Do Nothing''. In 2022 she was at the Edinburgh Festival in "Starship Improvise" with the Mischief Theatre. Career Bratt wa ...

, Justin Brett, Matt Cavendish, Joshua Jackson, Ali James, Pippa Evans, Susan Harrison, Adam Meggido, Philip Pellew, Andrew David Pugsley, Lauren Shearing, and Lucy Trodd as the core cast of comic actors.
Nimax Theatres, retrieved 06-09-2015 The core musicians are Duncan Walsh Atkins (keyboards - also musical director), Chris Ash (keyboards, reeds and deputy musical director) and Alex Freeman (percussion). The technical director (who also improvises the lighting) is Damian Robertson. The directors are Adam Meggido and Dylan Emery. After making a debut at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

in 2008, the show began a residency at the

Kings Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. The original venue was the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2024, the pub theatre, and the King's Head Theatre now operates from a purpose- ...

before transferring to

The Drill Hall RADA Studios (formerly The Drill Hall) is a theatrical venue in Chenies Street in Bloomsbury, just to the east of Tottenham Court Road in the West End of London. Owned by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the building contains rehearsal ...

. It has toured the UK,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and in 2011 had
series of 30-minute shows
for

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

. From 2011 the show started a series of one-off nights at The Ambassadors and the Criterion in London's West End. Then in September 2015, it opened at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a listed building, Grade II listed West End theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

(Shaftesbury avenue) for a limited run of 10 weeks. After the run, it continued with a series of one-off nights at the Lyric (also Shaftesbury avenue) and at The Other Palace Theatre. The show has occasionally featured guest performers, including the British comic actor

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain (TV series), Little Britain'' (2003–2006) ...

Mike McShane Michael McShane (born June 25, 1955) is an American actor, singer, and improvisational comedian. He appeared on the original British version of the television show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' (1988–97) and went on to appear in films such as ...

, Channel 4 newscaster John Snow, Nicolas Parsons,

Jim Bowen James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand-up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long-time host of the ITV game show '' Bullseye'', ...

, radical vicar and peacemaker Donald Reeves, actor and singer Keith Jack, a cappella group The Magnets and others. It has received several industry awards including the 2009 Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe Award and in 2016 won the

for best entertainment and family show. The theatre troupe responsible for Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is called The Showstoppers
The Showstoppers – The Improvised Musical
. They also have a children's show called The Showstoppers' Kids Show. The show was created by Adam Meggido and Dylan Emery with the backing of Keith Strachan and all three continue to run the show. The show has had two general managers - James Seabright (Seabright Productions) then Suzanna Rosenthal (Something for the Weekend). Seabright came back to produce the West End run.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Showstopper! The Improvised Musical Improvisational theatre West End musicals BBC Radio comedy programmes British radio game shows 2010 radio programme debuts 2008 musicals British musicals