SHOWSTOPPER! THE IMPROVISED MUSICAL
It seems like the art of the impossible. Can a bunch of actors really create a whole musical from scratch, and in front of a paying audience? Can they create characters, a story line and most impossibly, a set of showstopping musical numbers complete with rhyming lyrics (not to mention convincing parodies, chorus numbers, duets and trios) – oh and why not throw in some made-up-on-the-spot dance routines?
It is the spectacle of the impossible becoming all-too possible that is the attraction of the Improv Musical so well established by the ‘Showstopper’ troupe who ventured up from their West End perch to the Arts Theatre here in Cambridge. Their made-up musicals can never be as good as the real thing but that doesn’t seem to count. They follow the Einsteinian principle of E=MC2; that is, Entertainment = Music x Comedy squared. Relatively speaking the show was packed with capital E.
The science analogy here fits as the audience-inspired subject of last night’s improvised musical was ‘Blue Genes’ – a Cambridge-set story of unrequited love, professional jealousy and an elixir of life amid the labs of our city’s microbiology faculty. The evening began with our genial compere (Sean McCann), revving up the near full-house audience in fine panto style: ‘Hello Cambridge and Surrounding Areas – are you ready for a musical?’ The deafening response was clear scientific evidence that they collectively were. Then came the eliciting of subjects finally coming down to the scorned-love-in-a-lab scenario. We were also requested to choose a musical theatre type they could emulate. Last night we had Les Mis, Hamilton, Mamma Mia, Wagner (is he musical theatre?), Book of Mormon etc.
Title and genres in places the five-strong cast and two band members were ready to launch into their deftly daft tale. Part of the charm of improv is the very process of creation. Will the actors carry off a storyline they are making up on the spot? Will they think up clever lyrics to go with a tune they have never heard before? There is the constant sense that at any moment they will all dry up..but of course, these seasoned performers never do. They are fine singers, can move about a bit and can parody any musical genre it seems. Thus, a speedy rap in Hamilton style, a sad Abba-sounding ballad or a rousing chorus taking us to the barricades not of Paris but Cherry Hinton. There was a nice joke about revolutionary bakers who urge us all to ‘Rise Up!’
As for the story line – well as with most improv, it really never made sense. It is akin to making a convincing narrative out of a game of Consequences. It can’t be done. Only the gods of improvisation know why we had ‘walking on the Cam’ or a car chase through the streets of Stockholm. But did it matter? Of course not. The absurdity is part of the fun and there were lashing of laughter at last night’s comedy feast. Every night brings a different musical so in effect this review is unique. The art of the impossible? Go see it done.
