Friday, March 29

Tag: Pippa Evans

The London Improvathon – Wilton’s Music Hall
London

The London Improvathon – Wilton’s Music Hall

After taking time to catch up on sleep and sustenance, it is comforting to reflect on what a special event the London Improvathon is.  I covered the whole show but had breaks to grab a couple of hours sleep and to eat, so you could consider me to be a lightweight in comparison with these improvathoners.  For cast and audience, there is an invisible bond that forms over the fifty hours, the commitment to perform, or to watch the equivalent of twenty-five shows back-to-back, binds the two together, and the final bows are met with celebration.  For those who do not wish to commit to fifty hours, there was an option to buy a two-hour episode ticket. The history of the Improvathon goes back to 1993, when the first Canadian Improvathon took place, and then some years later Ken...
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Garrick Theatre
London

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Garrick Theatre

As the theatres gradually re-open, audiences are like kids in a toy shop, wide-eyed, rushing around not sure what to see first. Well it's a no-brainer. Book tickets for Showstopper! It sounds absolutely crazy - a musical improvised on the fly with suggestions of setting, musical styles and show title provided by the audience - but it has been running to incredible and well-deserved success since 2008. After a long stint at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the show had two West End runs and a series on BBC Radio 4. And along the way they picked up an Olivier award.  It's funny, clever, interactive and unique, each night becoming a completely different show full of references to styles the audience can recognise. A bit of Shakespeare here, a Hamilton-esque sequence there, an homage to...
The Alternative Eurovision Song Contest – The Showstoppers
REVIEWS

The Alternative Eurovision Song Contest – The Showstoppers

I am a self-confessed Eurovision geek! The annual contest is almost like a religious ceremony to me. So, I jumped at the chance to watch the Alternative Eurovision Song Contest by The Showstoppers. Given that social distancing is still part of our daily lives, the entire production was filmed according to the guidelines. With some of the contests taking part from their bedrooms. Clearly it is a challenge to produce any kind of show when the cast are not all physically in the same location, but The Showstoppers did a wonderful job. The show had a mixture of live and pre-recorded segments, which slotted together brilliantly. A few things here and there would have made it even better - but nothing that would distract from the enjoyment of the show as a whole. I think it’s fair to sa...
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Garrick Theatre
London

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Garrick Theatre

Showstopper did not allow lockdown to stop their creativity, they have continued to produce online improvised shows, in fact North West End UK have reviewed some of these (see our website).  For those who have somehow missed the artistry that is musical improvisation here is a quick summary.  Showstopper use suggestions made by the audience to make up a musical from scratch in front of your eyes.  In a normal musical production, it can take years for a production to make it to the stage, with the services of a lyricist, a composer, producer, director, actors, etc, etc!  Showstopper does all of this in one night – the performers multi-task and roll all of this into one very sleek team. Ring, ring, the red phone shrills, and we know it’s going to be Cameron asking the...