SHOWSTOPPER!'s Susan Harrison On Improvisation And Costume

Hiya! Susan here (the small redheaded one - if you've seen Showstopper). I'm copying the style of Lucy's opening here. It seemed appropriate as we are at opposite ends of the height spectrum! When we first saw our Showstopper shoes side by side we both knew it was a photo-worthy image which gives you an idea of the difference in height between us.

Along with Lucy I also share my dressing room with Sarah Louise and because we're in at different times the three of us have been playing a long distance game of Scrabble. ROCK AND ROLL! Whoever is in that night will add a word to the board and lay out more tiles for the next person. WE KNOW HOW TO LIVE! Then we take a bunch of drugs and throw the TV out of the window. That last bit isn't true as we don't have a TV and hey, improvisation is the only drug we need, right?

Actually, joking aside, doing Showstopper is incredibly addictive, partly because it's so unpredictable. You can't get complacent or bored because you never know; what's going to happen, where the show will be set or who you'll end up playing. This week I've been (among other things), a sweet young daughter with a good voice and a bad face, a scientist, a hippo, the Secretary of State who ended up being the president of America and E.T. Being E.T was a dream come true and although I was only on as this character very briefly, often it's these small, incidental roles that are the most fun to play.

When I started doing Showstopper I found the choice of costumes and accessories a bit overwhelming, perhaps because I was used to improvising with no costume at all...not that I was naked. I didn't do naked improvisation, guys, that would be gross! Although no doubt there is a group somewhere in the world doing "Naked-prov" but let's not dwell on that... The point is (stop thinking about Naked-prov) I now love the array of hats, coats and accessories that we have backstage. In the touring show (seriously, stop thinking about Naked-Prov) we've got a collection of all sorts of things, from white doctor's coats to bowler hats, but at The Apollo our costume and props designer Gabriella Slade has sourced much classier equivalents and I even have a secret bit of rail for a couple of much smaller coats just for me, thanks to Denise our lovely wardrobe person. Of course sometimes it helps to wear oversized items (after all, ill-fitting costume = comedy) but it's great to have the option of wearing something that will fit! Of all the backstage items, I've become particularly attached to the array of glasses we now have and enjoy finding out who my character is by experimenting with; round glasses/no glasses/horn rimmed glasses and even (once this week) two glasses at once. I'm easily amused!

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical runs at the Apollo Theatre.

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