SHOWSTOPPER! A Week In The West End

Sarah-Louise Young

So far this run I have played four different types of pigeon, a North Korean chicken farmer and Ronald McDonald. You would think with such a variety of parts it would be impossible to repeat yourself and indeed it probably is, but after a long run your mind starts to play tricks on you: have I sung that line before? Wasn't I in love with him last night (except that he was playing a robot pirate rather than a demonically possessed Sepp Blatter)?

Checking in with the other Stoppers this week I find that we are all feeling the effects of 'long-term improv' and it's a relief to know that I am not the only one questioning myself from time to time.

It's also interesting to note how many repeat suggestions the audience come up with from show to show: fish and chip shops, Atlantis and Buckingham Palace are frequent shout-outs. It makes you wonder what is so appealing about these locations and it's a good challenge to our story-making brains to come up with something fresh. We've seen royal musicals take place in the palace kitchen, the Queen's bathroom and Prince Philip's PR department so far in this run.

In fact one of my weekly highlights was Pippa Evans playing a brilliantly high status Queen Victoria in Wednesday night's 'Royal Flush'. I also had the pleasure of duetting with Lucy Trodd's brilliant Liza Minnelli (who knew she would turn up in a musical set in a funeral parlour, 'Grave Expectations', on Tuesday night?).

I have to say the audience's show titles have been excellent. Maybe word has got out about the branded Showstopper mug being awarded to the winning one? Either way, it's amazing how much the title can influence the tone of the show. On Thursday night we had 'Science Friction' set in a sci-fi convention and the name of the show definitely flavoured proceedings from the off, with Adam Meggido playing Captain Plato, ex-husband to my ambitious Shelley Long Lieutenant Wong and co-star in the long running TV drama, 'Space Heaven'.

Last week saw the introduction of our new Loyalty Card scheme, which is very exciting. We realised how many people were coming back to see the show again, sometimes as many as ten times! So now we have a way of saying thank you. Some people have been so many times that I'm starting to recognize their names in the interval Tweets, when our director reads out audience suggestions for what might happen in act two.

I'm away from the team for a few days and heading to Geneva to perform my Julie Andrews show, 'Julie Madly Deeply' so I will miss my dressing room buddy Lucy and our ongoing game of Scrabble. But I am looking forward to checking the Twitter stream around 9pm to see what's been happening. Oh, and I'll be taking a pre-show photo of my best ugly face... check out #uglyfacecompetition @IAmPippaEvans. Maybe some other performers will join us!

To post a comment, you must register and login.