Showstopper! The Improvised Musical

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is playing at The Lowry in Salford Quays from Thursday 10 to Sunday 20 December, as part of its UK tour. The whole thing is made up on the spot at every performance: the cast and band take suggestions from the audience and turn them into a full musical, with songs and dance built around whatever comes out of the crowd. No two nights are the same, because the starting point changes every time.

It's not a new act. The show spent fourteen years as an Edinburgh Fringe phenomenon before becoming a BBC Radio 4 series and moving into the West End. While there, it won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and Family Show, and London Theatre Reviews called it 'the best in the business'. The Manchester dates are part of the tour that's taking it across the country.

Because it's improvised, the audience has a hand in what happens on stage. The cast and band work from your suggestions to build the story, the songs, and the choreography as they go, so the show you see depends on what the room throws at them. It's a musical comedy, and the whole thing is constructed in front of you.

There are plenty of options to catch it over the ten days: evening performances start at 20:00, with matinees at 16:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. The run goes from Thursday 10 to Sunday 20 December at The Lowry, Salford Quays, Salford, Manchester.