The critically acclaimed improvisational frontrunner Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is out on tour.
No two nights are ever the same as The Showstoppers take audience suggestions and then spin a brand new comedy musical out of thin air – stories, characters, tunes, lyrics, dances, harmonies and all – with unpredictable and hilarious results. If you’ve thought improv looked difficult before, try doing it in time (and tune) to music!
Fresh their West End debut at the Apollo Theatre in 2016, The Showstoppers made 2017 their best year yet, one new musical at a time. Having grown since 2008 to become the UK’s most acclaimed and in-demand musical improvisers, The Showstoppers became a must-see staple of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With four West End seasons and an acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series to their name, they have since taken their ingenious blend of comedy, musical theatre and spontaneity around the globe, picking up accolades and awards along the way.
The rotating cast features some of the brightest minds in the world of comedy and musical theatre. The company includes:
- Co-founder Adam Meggido, an award-winning writer/composer who has improvised at the National, The Royal Court Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and currently holds the world record for the directing the longest impro show – 55 hours without a break.
- Dylan Emery, the other co-founder, has been improvising for more than 15 years – including at the National/Royal Court/Shakespeare’s Globe. He created veteran comedy impro group Grand Theft Impro.
- Pippa Evans is an Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee and has had great success on TV, Radio and stage – she is a regular on BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show, BBC2’s Fast and Loose, performs regularly with the Comedy Store Players and has had many years of success with her hit character act Loretta Maine.
- Ruth Bratt is an improv Fringe regular for the last 11 years whose recent TV credits include Ricky Gervais’ Derek, Sarah Millican’s Support Group and Vic Reeves’ The Ministry Of Curious Stuff.
- Sarah-Louise Young won the Best Musical Variety Act in the London Cabaret Awards and was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer. She has performed her critically-acclaimed Cabaret Whore show across the world.
Not only is each performance achingly funny, it’s a genuinely new musical every time. Worth seeing again and again. ★★★★★
– Time Out London
The show is a blast. It makes your jaw drop in impressed amazement and your ribs ache with laughter. Simultaneously a pastiche, a parody and a paean to musical theatre ★★★★★
– Mail on Sunday
A shining example of how good improv can be. ★★★★★
– Chortle
They truly are the masters of longform improvisation. These guys have to be seen to be believed! The best musical improvisation group we’ve ever come across. More talent on stage than you can shake a stick at! ★★★★★
– Time Out
An ingenious and engaging mix of improvisation and musical theatre. If you admired the Comedy Store Players for their ability to think on their feet, this bunch do it with the same verve and flair, but set to music. I was left open-mouthed. I can honestly say that I’d opt for this show’s wild, inventive energy of The Sound of Music any day.”
– The Guardian
‘These hideously talented regulars are pushing improv in new directions – go marvel’ ★★★★
– Daily Telegraph
“If you really want to know how to build a musical…watch Showstoppers. It’s bliss.” ★★★★
– The Times
Tour Dates
10th January – Oxford, The Playhouse
20th January – Bury St Edmunds, Theatre Royal
22nd – 24th January – Bath, Theatre Royal
10th February – Manchester, The Palace Theatre
15th – 16th February – Leicester, Curve Studio
17th February – Newcastle, Northern Stage
23rd February – Southampton, Nuffield Theatre
15th March – York, Grand Opera House
5th April – Maidstone, Hazlitt Theatre
25th July – Sheffield, Lyceum Theatre
26th July – Sale, Waterside Arts Centre
6th – 8th September – Guildford, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
14th September – Derby, Derby Theatre
15th September – Norwich, Norwich Playhouse
20th September – New Brighton, Floral Pavilion
27th September – Winchester, Theatre Royal
29th September – Ipswich, New Wolsey Theatre
25th October – Northampton, Theatre Royal
1st November – Hull, The Truck
3rd November – Birmingham, The Birmingham Rep
23rd November – Colne (Lancashire), The Muni
27th November – Eastleigh, The Point
7th December – Warwick, Bridge House Theatre
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