Saturday, October 24, 2020

SHOWSTOPPER! THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL** (but kind of ****)

 

By Alan

Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/showstopper-the-improvised-musical-livestream-tickets-121758513993?aff=SSwebsite

Available until: 25th October 2020

I’m really glad I watched this because before tonight I really didn’t believe these musicals were improvised. The performers were just too good. I didn’t believe it was possible to improvise songs in any style and make up lyrics which rhymed and scanned and sing harmonies. I thought it was all a trick.

But I think this must have been improvised because it is an awful musical. The ideas were stupid and they just got worse and worse. It was so bad the performers kept laughing and it was like they didn’t know where to take the story next.

But you know how some things are so awful you end up enjoying them? I enjoyed this.

I think the audience for this show were really cheeky and their ideas got madder and madder and the performers really got into it too by thinking up crazy ideas of their own and I was actually really quite excited about what they might come up with next. I wanted to know if the story could possibly get crazier. And it always did.

It was also really good because it just shows how talented and professional the showstoppers are that they were able to keep going and that if something did throw them it was literally only for a second. They also had all kinds of singing styles to deal with and they did them all. There was one musical I don’t know at all but of the others I think only one of the songs didn’t sound quite right for the musical and I’m not being critical, I think it’s really amazing they got the others so right.

I’m not allowed to tell you much about the plot or the musical styles but one of the songs was definitely on the way to being classical and I really liked the falsetto. Only two of the styles come from ‘current’ West End musicals. I think three of the musicals come from this century. They also sing in the style of an old pop group and in a couple of musical styles I didn’t really realise were musical styles.

The Showstoppers are very good. Adam Meggido appeared for the third week running. He really is very good and he is good at making you sympathise with his characters. Philip Pellew who was in last week’s was also back and I also know Justin Brett as he was in These Folk at The Boulevard with Susan Harrison who was in the first Showstopper musical. There was only one female Showstopper this week, Pippa Evans. They all did really well with stuff that should have been impossible. They all have really good voices, they can sing in any style and although some things fazed them I think most people would have been fazed a lot more.

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