one4review | On 25, Aug 2014

It’s such a simple premise – take suggestions from the audience and improvise a musical around them. The Showstopper team make this look so ridiculously easy you forget they and the band are making up everything, including the set, on the spot.

The musical scenes and songs are linked together fantastically well by the host who also never lets the cast get away with anything lightly, several times he pushed them in totally different directions which was fascinating to watch.

The cast sing well, act well, add rhymes, add jokes, props, make set changes, additional characters AND still manage to make it all work like it was planned. Respect! Tonight’s musical was “In-tents”, the musical set on a campsite in Yugoslavia back in the 80s with strange local cuisine and a camel. Perfect!

The band support everything too – piano, percussion and an alto flute (nice!) provide underscoring as well as the music, again completely improvised and they make it sound easy.

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. Some creators take years to write rubbish, this time create gems in an hour every night. Simply outstanding.

Reviewed by Alan.

Gilded Balloon
2230-2340