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Show: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
Society: Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard
Credits: The Showstoppers
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 22/08/2016
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
Chris Abbott | 23 Aug 2016 10:24am
Photo: Geraint-Lewis
To the Pleasance today for Snow Way Out, a new musical about a girl trapped in a snow globe. Yes, it’s Showstopper! Again, without which no Edinburgh Fringe visit is complete.
This was my third visit to the show in the last few years and it is as good as ever, and now plays in a much larger venue, the Pleasance Grand. The large room was full as the band played the warm-up and the performers were greeted like old friends. The format stays the same – why change what works so well – and on this occasion (show number 763 I think) the audience requested the ‘snow globe’ setting, although it was a close vote and we nearly ended up with a piece set in Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign room. Thankfully, the audience was in a mood for fantasy…
Engaged in his perennial phone call with producer Cameron, Dylan Emery established that the audience would like music in the styles of Hamilton (blank looks among the white-haired members of the audience), Oklahoma!, The Mikado, Chicago and The Rocky Horror Show (which later led to an uproarious chance for the audience to join in a Time Warp-inspired number).
From the large cast pool, we were entertained on this occasion by (I think, programme photos can be misleading) Ruth Bratt, Justin Brett, Pippa Evans, Ali James, Adam Meggido and Andrew Pugsley. Highlights included Pippa Evans as a taciturn penguin and an intrusive snow plough, later to play a crucial part in the plot. Our heroine in the snow globe was Ruth Bratt, in good voice as ever, and opposite her Justin Brett had all the audience’s sympathy, especially when losing limbs to the evil Jack Frost (Adam Meggido) and his loyal accomplice Glenice (Ali James). Andrew Pugsley kept the story on track and the whole group, as usual, played numerous other characters including shooting stars, snowmen and characters in flashback.
Supporting the cast as ever were an inventive trio of musicians and a rapid response lighting improviser. Showstopper! works because it is a clever format delivered by a highly experienced and talented cast. Improv is all over Edinburgh this year, but no other group comes close to this one for consistently delivering entertaining new shows at the rate of one every day. I’ll be back.
- : admin
- : 22/08/2016