Review of the improvised hip-hop musical

It’s been going for ten years, so improvised hip-hop show Shamilton! must be doing something right. But it might just be doing everything right, judging by this stellar performance, part of a two-week London run following their latest Edinburgh Fringe season.

The premise is simple but ambitious (and familiar to fans of Showstopper!) with the troupe creating a full 80-minute musical, based on a person chosen by the audience from a shortlist of shouted suggestions.

Tonight’s pick was Britney Spears – an inspired choice given her life has been pretty operatic anyway. Picking a musician also comes with the advantage of a huge back catalogue to be plundered. Every lyric dropped, or melody purloined, gets a cheer of appreciation, while a version of Oops!… I Did It Again brings the crowd to its feet as the rousing finale of this performance. 

As Britney, Lily Ludwig easily carried the show, and has a powerhouse voice matched only by Raquel Palmas playing frenemy Christina Aguilera, and an assortment of other characters.

The team are tight rappers, and quick-thinking and inventive with their improv. Sure they make mistakes, but they own them. It takes until the interval for the team to realise that Justin Timberlake wasn’t in Backstreet Boys, as they had assumed. Another slip-up calling him ‘Jason’ leads to a running joke, too. Slapdashedness becomes professionalised.

Such insider quips are a big part of the fun, but the team are not short of proper jokes. As a stand-out, Ludwig came up with the line: ‘This is how I’ll show my autonomy – by doing what other people tell me to do,’ which is rather nice.

Meanwhile, Chris Grace gets to exercise his penchant for double entendres as Alan Carr – a rejected suggestion as the musical’s subject who becomes an unlikely but pivotal side character here.

What’s crucial, though, is how the talented troupe create a  genuine emotional pull beyond the silliness and mucking about, giving the show a core that sustains the running time. 

There is a commentary here on the weird sexual infantilisation of women in the public eye – and a real story about those who exploited Britney. That means that when the story has her shave her head in defiant protest at the controlling conservatorship of her villainous dad (Allen Lucas), it becomes a surprisingly potent moment of empowerment.

The Hamilton title, of course, suggests a Hamilton parody but the team only borrow from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical for the rhythm of a couple of establishing numbers. That, plus one great scene when Will Naameh, best known to comedy fans as MC Hammersmith, the only Brit in the group, appropriates the George III number You'll Be Back in a brief appearance as the villainous Universal Music boss.

The team have a close rapport with each other and their backing keyboardist (musical director Adrien Pellerin), drummer and even lighting tech, who reacts instinctively to the action. 

They skilfully bring the audience in on that relationship with some warm-up exercises that build a connection, especially a rap based on the responses of a cop in the front row (though the Americans were slightly, and amusingly, flummoxed when it came to rapping about his interest in the Tudors).

Plus, quizzing the audience about what they know about Britney before we start both sets the parameters for the musical and offers a primer to any audience – and cast! – members who don’t know the intricacies of her backstory. 

Shamilton! was founded in LA as an offshoot of the Baby Wants Candy musical troupe, themselves Edinburgh Fringe stalwarts – but they more than deserve a more frequent UK presence, just as they deserved the rapturous standing ovation that ended this performance. 

• Shamilton! The Improvised Hip-Hop Musical runs at The Other Palace, London, until September 20. Note the above image has been edited to reflect the cast of the performance reviewed.

Review date: 11 Sep 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: The Other Palace