Wednesday, October 21

Tag: Lucy Trodd

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Cambridge Theatre
London

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Cambridge Theatre

Olivier-award-winning improv group, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, are back at London's Cambridge Theatre performing their long-form improv. As their name suggests, they improvise a West End musical, based on suggestions from the audience. The company has a large amount of talented performers to draw on, but each show typically consists of around six actors, with another company member taking the role of director, whose job it is to gather suggestions from the audience and introduce them at various points to either move the action forward or make the actors look as ridiculous as possible. Co-creator of 'Showstopper!', Dylan Emery, was the director for last night's show, opening the action with a call from a producer in need of a new musical. Not to worry, he has a writer's room (t...
London 50-Hour Improvathon 2025 – The Pleasance Theatre
London

London 50-Hour Improvathon 2025 – The Pleasance Theatre

Improvisation - a theatre skill that is underrated, under paid, and underrepresented, but at the Pleasance Theatre from the 4th-6th April, the London Improvathon showed the audience, why the Improvathon, is in its 15th year.  This fifty hour, or three thousand minute event, pushes the boundaries of what is physically and mentally possible for a group of improvisers (and some audience members), who create a story in a loose framework, with many deviations, but with a strong emphasis on character development, to give this event a soap-like feel. The inspiration for this event comes from the Canadian company Die-Nasty who originated the Soap-A-Thon and in 2005, the then director of Die-Nasty Dana Anderson worked with Ken Campbell the British theatre impresario to bring the Soap-A-Thon...
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 ...