Review: Showstopper! at Liverpool Playhouse ****1/2

Over on social media, everyone is raving about 42 Balloons – the uplifting new musical doing brisk business down the road at the Lowry.

But then, they haven’t seen Between the Sheets.

Sadly, this similarly uplifting (and yet at the same time poignant) tale of polyamorous love among pensioners in a Bayview-style retirement home won’t be getting the lengthy run it deserves.

Because is existence is ephemeral (albeit much in the same way as a cheese dream) and entirely down to the nimble and extremely skilful cast and band of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.

The original idea for Showstopper! apparently came from the late maverick theatre maker Ken Campbell (one time artistic director of the Everyman), who had seen a Canadian company called Die-Nasty doing a weekly improv soap opera.

That was back in the Noughties, and from tiny beginnings at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 the Showstopper! scamps have premiered more than 1,000 completely new musicals, devised in collaboration with their audiences, and won an Olivier along the way.

The premise is simple, and the execution appears practically effortless, but there’s a lot going on under the surface of its serene glide across this golden pond.

A red ‘Batphone’ rings, and on the other end of the line a frantic producer appeals for a show at short notice, so writer (Sean McCann) enlists the assistance of the audience in the delivery of his script.

Plot and title democratically chosen, and musical styles suggested - on this opening night of a three-date visit to Liverpool Playhouse they included Sondheim, Oklahoma, The Book of Mormon, Hairspray and Hamilton - it’s left to the gifted five-strong cast (plus keyboard and percussion) to breathe life into the surely award-scooping show.

Thus, in a cheerful romp through the genres, Showstopper’s talented improvisors gave us rousing numbers like You’re Never too Late for Love, the Rules of Cribbage, I Should Have Shared my Werther’s, Mix it up Baby and Everybody Secretly Loves the Lighthouse Family, alongside some gleefully sly dialogue, musings on the benefits of monogamy - and an unexpectedly touching sub-plot involving young care home worker Daphne (Ali James) and her ‘nice’ but dull boyfriend Gary (Justin Brett).

Impressively inventive stuff.

In fact, neatly and expertly plotted on the hoof within a wider and carefully constructed framework, Showstopper! is a clever and altogether joyous theatrical experience.

Top: The Showstopper! cast. Photo by Alex Brenner.