Showstopper: The Improvised Musical is a really fun show. As its name suggests, it’s a completely improvised musical. Each show is different, based on audience suggestions. Here’s my Showstopper: The Improvised Musical review.
Overview of Showstopper: The Improvised Musical
Showstopper: The Improvised Musical is a fully improvised musical theatre show. Every show is different, based on audience suggestions. The show follows a similar structure for each show, but the content of every show is completely improvised and different. So my Showstopper: The Improvised Musical review can’t give any plot spoilers, as the plot of each show is different!
Showstopper: The Improvised Musical starts with the Emcee answering the phone on stage. The phone call is asking for a new musical to be written in the next two hours. The Emcee then turns to the audience to ask for suggestions.
The title of the new musical and audience suggestions
First, he asks for suggestions of what the musical should be about. The audience then puts up their hands and shouts out suggestions. There were a range of suggestions in the show I went to, ranging from Dungeons and Dragons, to a Bridgerton-style romance. But the audience voted for their favourite show, which became: Romeo and Juliet and Billy and Joseph.
Once the title of the show is decided, the Emcee then asked for some suggestions of musicals that would inspire some of the songs in the show. The audience suggestions included Frozen, Wicked, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Chicago.
The improvised musical
Once the audience suggestions were sorted, it was time for the show to begin. There were 5 cast members, and two musicians, and the entire show was improvised. So we got to see the story of Romeo and Juliet and Billy and Joseph unfold before our eyes on stage – with a lot of unexpected twists and turns!
There would be scenes of dialogue between the characters, and then an improvised song, often with rhyming lyrics.
The Emcee would occasionally stop the show to ask for an additional audience suggestion of what should happen next. Or he’d say that the next song would be inspired by one of the chosen musicals, so then we’d see a Chicago-inspired song and dance.
Aside from this repeatable format, the content of the show changes with each performance of Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. So every show is completely different – meaning there’s no limit to the number of times you can watch Showstopper: The Improvised Musical!
What I liked about Showstopper: The Improvised Musical
I really enjoyed Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. I thought it was really funny. There were so many times that I was properly laughing throughout the show. And the rest of the audience were really on board and loving it as well.
My favourite part of the show was the songs. It was so clever how the performers were able to come up with rhyming song lyrics on the spot. And the songs carried the story as well.
Favourite improvised songs and moments
One of my favourite songs was in the second half. The plot had evolved to mean that Romeo had been exiled to Padua, and for some reason he was with cowboys there (it sounds weird, as improvised stories often are, but it worked and it was funny!). He’s talking to some of his new cowboy friends about love and they do a song. And the woman (who also played Juliet in other scenes) was improvising lyrics about how Romeo should take some time to work on himself instead of waiting for another woman to come along and fix him. It was hilarious, and so clever.
I also loved the songs that were inspired by well-known musicals. It was really funny to hear echoes of the well known song, but also see how the cast completely re-imagined the song.
Performers and musical-inspired songs
All the performers were great. The cast quickly established the four main characters of Romeo and Juliet and Billy and Joseph. There was the secret romance between Billy and Joseph. There were lots of jokes about Juliet being 13 years old in the original story. And a Chicago-inspired dance at the masked ball. Then there was the song ‘Rewinding Time’, which was inspired by Wicked’s ‘Defying Gravity’. And ‘We Must Go’, as Romeo was exiled to Padua and Billy was exiled to Venice – and this song was inspired by Frozen’s ‘Let it Go’.
There were so many details in the show, and it’s almost impossible to remember it all. I kind of wish that this ‘new musical’ of Romeo and Juliet and Billy and Joseph was a real musical that I could watch again. I’d honestly love to watch it again and hear all the songs again. But I don’t know if it would be the same the second time around. I think part of the magic of the show is knowing that it’s all improvised. It probably wouldn’t be the same a second time around. But I’d still like to see it again!
What I wasn’t so sure about
I completely loved all the songs in Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. The song were definitely my favourite part of the show. Any parts of Showstopper: The Improvised Musical that I wasn’t so sure about are very specific to the exact show I saw. Another performance of Showstopper: The Improvised Musical will be completely different, so might not have any of these topics. It’s difficult to review a show that changes with each performance!
I enjoyed the acting parts of the show as well, but sometimes I felt like these parts of the show were lacking direction. There were just a few times, especially in the middle of the second half, where it felt like the story wasn’t being pushed forward. This didn’t happen often – there were lots of times where the story was being developed with each line of dialogue which was great. And I know how hard it is to improvise a story and constantly push that story forwards. But there were still times in the second half that felt like the story was stalling slightly.
The ending of the show
The ending of the show felt slightly confused as well. Juliet and Joseph were in the tomb with the poison (like Juliet was in the original Romeo and Juliet) but then decided not to poison themselves and Joseph threw the poison away. But then Billy and Romeo came in, and the poison hit Billy so he died. So then Romeo killed himself because he didn’t want to lose Billy, his brother. But then there was suddenly an echo back to the ‘rewinding time’ song, so time was rewound and actually none of them died.
I felt slightly confused by the ending, and it felt a bit rushed to be trying to do that many events in the last 5 minutes of the show. It was still a good ending, and I’m glad it ended up with a happy ending without anyone dying! But I just felt like there were a few too many ideas in a short space of time. But it was still a really good ending. And every show performed by Showstopper: The Improvised Musical is completely different – so the ending of the next show will be completely different.
Would I recommend Showstopper: The Improvised Musical
I definitely recommend going to see Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. It was hilarious, with so many memorable moments. It’s one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in a long time. And knowing that the entire show is completely improvised just makes it funnier. It’s also the type of show that you can go to see over and over again, because it’s completely different each time. I’d love to see Showstopper: The Improvised Musical again and see what their next musical is all about.
Hope you enjoyed my Showstopper: The Improvised Musical review! Check out my other theatre reviews for more shows in the West End, across the UK and the world.
