West End and Broadway star Ramin Karimloo has followed Elaine Paige to issue a challenge to The Showstoppers to compose a musical theatre song in just 24 hours.
Aided and abetted by his son Hadley, the youngest-ever Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera has challenged the improvisation specialists to create a song about home schooling in the style of hit musical, School of Rock.
Recorded by the cast who are all isolated from each other, the finished song will be unveiled on social media at 11am on 21 April 2020.
The cast rising to the challenge this week will be Justin Brett, Pippa Evans, Joshua Jackson, Ali James, Adam Meggido and Andrew Pugsley. The music will be written and performed by Duncan Walsh Atkins (keys) with Dylan Emery on guitar.
Commenting on behalf of The Showstoppers, artistic director Meggido said: “Elaine Paige, as the First Lady of the West End, was a natural choice to launch The 24-Hour Challenge last week when we composed and performed ‘Don’t Go Out’ in the style of West Side Story, her favourite musical. We’re thrilled that Ramin, one of the biggest Broadway and West End stars, has picked up the baton for our second challenge. Keep your eyes peeled for further 24-hour song challenges in the coming weeks from the biggest stars in musical theatre.”
Award-winning Iranian-Canadian actor and singer Karimloo originated the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, and made both his West End and Broadway debut in Les Misérables. Karimloo also originated the role of Gleb Vaganoc in the Broadway musical Anastasia and in 2019 played the title role in the UK premiere concert version of Dr Zhivago.
Created by Meggido and Dylan Emery, the Showstopper formula involves taking individual suggestions from each night’s audience and turning them into a brand new fully choreographed and scored musical.
Featuring a rotating company, the improvised musical theatre show was founded in London in 2008 and has proved to be a hit with audiences around the world. An Edinburgh Fringe favourite for 12 years, The Showstoppers have featured in their own BBC Radio 4 series and played to packed houses in the West End.
Angela Thomas
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