Showstopper! The Improvised Musical Tickets at the Cambridge Theatre
A brand new musical (every night)! It's made up on the spot, so each show is literally different. You pick the setting, title and musical styles; the cast and band do the rest.
From £33about 2 hours, with an intervalAges 12 and up
A musical at the Cambridge Theatre, 5 minutes' walk from Covent GardenBooking to 26 July 2027
Real people on the phone
020 7193 9050 · Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 8pm
Help choosing your seat
What Is Showstopper! The Improvised Musical?
An improvised musical comedy. Nothing is written in advance: no script, no songs, no story. The company, known as The Showstoppers, build a whole musical in front of you from what the audience shouts out, with a live band writing the tunes as they go.
It started at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, had its own BBC Radio 4 series, and won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and Family in 2016 after a ten-week West End run at the Apollo. It's been coming back to the Cambridge Theatre on Monday nights since May 2023.
How the Show Works
The evening opens with the host, usually Dylan Emery, one of the show's two creators, playing a writer whose producer has just phoned: he needs a brand new musical, and he has two hours to come up with it. So he asks you.
The audience suggests a setting and a title, and names musicals or composers for the songs to sound like. Cheering decides which ideas win. From there the performers invent the characters, the story, the songs and the dance routines live, while the band matches whatever styles were picked. Even the lighting is made up as it goes.
The host stops the action now and then to ask for more ideas, or to throw the cast a curveball, and in the interval you can send in ideas for the second half.
Recent shows have included a romance on the Central Line, with songs in the style of Oklahoma, Tim Minchin and Cole Porter, and a dysfunctional parents' evening set to Hairspray and Guys and Dolls.
Who's It For?
Musical fans, first of all, because the jokes land hardest when you know the shows being sent up. But you don't need to know your Sondheim from your Lloyd Webber to enjoy watching people build a musical from nothing.
It's a good one to go back to, because it's never the same show twice. It's also an easy Monday night out: one evening, done by about 9:30pm.
Not for young children. It's recommended for 12 and up, and because the audience steers it, the humour can get more adult on some nights.
When It's On
Selected Mondays, always at 7:30pm:
- 2026: 23 November and 21 December
- 2027: 1 February, 22 February, 5 April, 26 April, 24 May, 28 June and 26 July
The Cambridge Theatre is home to Matilda The Musical the rest of the week. Booking runs to 26 July 2027 for now, and more Mondays may be added.
Be there on time. The setting, the title and the musical styles are all picked in the first few minutes, and the whole night is built on them.
Book Showstopper! The Improvised Musical Tickets
From around £25. All-in pricing, the price you see is what you pay. Booking for a group? Call us on 020 7193 9050.
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical FAQs
Yes. The story, the characters, the lyrics and the music are all made up live from the audience's suggestions, and no two performances are the same.
About 2 hours, including an interval. A 7:30pm start finishes around 9:30pm.
It's recommended for ages 12 and up. Under-4s aren't admitted, and anyone 16 or under has to be with an adult. Everyone needs their own ticket.
A rotating company of improvisers, so the line-up changes from night to night and isn't announced in advance.
Only if you want to. Ideas are shouted out from the audience, so you can just as happily sit back and watch.
Yes. A small band improvises the music alongside the cast, in whatever styles the audience chooses.
The middle of the Stalls, rows D to J, is the pick. More in our Cambridge Theatre guide.
The critics who've seen it at the Cambridge have given it five stars, and what they keep coming back to is how complete it feels, more like a musical somebody wrote than one made up on the night, and a band that keeps up with whatever styles get picked. More in the News and Reviews tab.
From around £25, all-in.
Monday is improv night in the West End. Austentatious makes up a lost Jane Austen novel at the Vaudeville, and Murder, She Didn't Write makes up an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit at the Duchess.
Where to Sit for Showstopper!
Most seats at the Cambridge have a good view of the whole stage, so this is a theatre where you don't have to pay top price to see well. For a comedy night, close enough to catch the faces is what matters: the middle of the Stalls, rows D to J, seats 9 to 20, is the pick. The back of the Stalls and the front of the Upper Circle are the value. The Stalls floor is quite flat until row P, so shorter people may prefer the front of the Dress Circle.
The full seat-by-seat guide is in our Cambridge Theatre guide.
Seating plan
Dates & tickets
Getting to the Cambridge Theatre
Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9HU. Covent Garden (Piccadilly line) and Leicester Square (Piccadilly and Northern lines) are both about five minutes' walk.
Buses 19, 24, 29 and 176 stop at Cambridge Circus on Charing Cross Road, about three minutes away, and the 14 stops at Gerrard Place on Shaftesbury Avenue, about four. Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before, no later. More in getting to the Cambridge Theatre.
Address
Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9HU
Nearest Tube
Covent Garden (5 min walk); Leicester Square (5 min walk); Tottenham Court Road (step-free, about 500m)
Cast
The Showstoppers are a rotating company of improvisers, and who's on stage changes from night to night. Pippa Evans, Ruth Bratt, Justin Brett, Andrew Pugsley and Lauren Shearing are among those who've played it at the Cambridge, with Dylan Emery usually hosting.
Creative Team
Created and directed by Adam Meggido and Dylan Emery. Musical director Duncan Walsh Atkins.
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical Reviews
North West End UK gave it five stars at the Cambridge in April 2026: "In the end, Showstopper! doesn't feel like an improvised musical at all, it feels like a perfectly crafted one." The same reviewer singled out Pippa Evans, "commanding the stage with confidence and wit", and the band, "expertly adapting to each scene and musical style".
When it opened its first West End season at the Apollo in 2015, British Theatre gave it five stars too: "There are book musicals playing on the West End which come nowhere near the artistry, excitement and sheer brilliance of Showstopper!"
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
Cambridge Theatre
