Edinburgh 2022: Review: SHOWSTOPPER! THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL, Pleasance Courtyard

 

 

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is an Olivier-award-winning show that has been an Edinburgh Festival Fringe favourite for many years. The idea is that a producer is being put under pressure to pitch his new musical and he's out of ideas. The audience are asked for suggestions of locations, musical styles and themes of the show and the cast makes it up on the spot.

It's impossible to spoil Showstopper! The Improvised Musical as no two performances are the same. The performance I went to saw a musical set at a board game convention and in the style of Wicked, Cabaret and Hairspray. There's a lot of fun to be had here and it seems the cast are having just as much of a good time as the audience are. Deliberately cracking each other up and making the plot more complicated, this is what really makes the show.

At 70 minutes it runs a little long and some of the plot starts to wear a bit thin at the midway point. It all comes back together by the end for the big finish. This is an incredibly skilled musical theatre improv group and their ability to make up big belting show tunes on the spot is seriously impressive.