Top Hat Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 30th September 2025 Review
Top Hat is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh this week (Tue 30 Sept-Sat 4 Oct, and if you are a fan of the original 1935 film of the same name, Classic Hollywood musicals in general, or simply stage musicals, then this is probably the show for you. An added bonus for this show is of course Irvin Berlin’s classic music and songs.
If you are a fan of the original film, then not seeing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in your mind’s eye in the leading roles of Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont is a difficult thing to do, and here Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke (or anyone in these roles) will always struggle a little with some people to stamp their own identity on the production. Tonight though, they both managed to give us their take on “Top Hat”.
It is a little hard now for many of us (myself included) to imagine just how popular the original Top Hat film and many other Hollywood musicals of the time really were. This was a time when going to the cinema was mass market, affordable entertainment for millions of people every week, and the fantasy world of elegance and opulence that these musicals presented to people was in sharp contrast to the reality of many people’s daily lives in the years of the great economic depression of America (1929-39). People, it seems, needed their escape from reality, and Top Hat was one of those escapes. So many of the songs from this film also became huge popular hits, selling millions of records.
This new production of “Top Hat”, adapted for the stage by Matthew White & Howard Jacques, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, captures the essence of the original film and the escapist fantasy of its 1935 world. This is not a museum piece recreation of either the film or 1935, but a homage that allows subtle updates to make this show work on stage. These song and dance routines evoke that effortless elegance of the original film whilst also making everything work for an on-stage touring production. Some of the humour and social elements of this show do give its age away a little and in some places we have moved on in how we now view some things, but wisely these have been left alone and not updated to fit our current politically correct dogmas. They are as vital a part of the world of “Top Hat” as are the dance routines, music, and songs.
From the moment that the live band plays the overture and the curtain rises, you know that this musical has some classic songs, and few can have as many gems as this one. Here, included amongst many others are “Cheek to Cheek”, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”, “Top Hat White Tie and Tails” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. Once the curtain is up on this show, the impressive set design by Peter McKintosh plus costume design by Peter McKintosh & Yvonne Milnes quickly sets this escapist fantasy world for Phillip Attmore, Amara Okereke and the rest of the cast to perform all of these show numbers in.
Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke are both obviously having a lot of fun with the song and dance routines in this show, and why not, these are timeless Irving Berlin songs and music that they are getting the opportunity to work with, and not only are they performing them well, but with respect to their musical heritage. On a big stage like the one the Playhouse Theatre has to offer, they and the rest of the on-stage dancers/singers get to tap-dance and glide their way across Peter McKintosh’s always impressive and innovative set designs.
As well as the song and dance, “Top Hat” is also a comedy and Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke also have that light touch needed for this type of humour. Every comedy like this seems to need its “Fall Guys & Girls” and Stooges and here they are well performed by Sally Ann Triplett (Madge Hardwick), James Hume (Horace Hardwick), James Clyde (Bates) and Alex Gibson-Giorgio (Alberto Beddini).
The roles of Horace and Madge Hardwick are straight out of classic vaudeville theatre, and Sally Ann Triplett has the opportunity in this show to deliver some classic one liners. Here Horace and Mad ge also get, for me anyhow, one of the great duet songs of this show – “Outside of That I Love You”.
“Top Hat” is simply pure escapist fantasy entertainment, but to get the most out of this show, you have to be prepared to enter into the world of this show and just leave a little bit of reality behind for an evening. Judging from the responses of this audience, this show was exactly the tonic that many people needed for their evening out at the theatre.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
If you are a fan of the original film, then not seeing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in your mind’s eye in the leading roles of Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont is a difficult thing to do, and here Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke (or anyone in these roles) will always struggle a little with some people to stamp their own identity on the production. Tonight though, they both managed to give us their take on “Top Hat”.
It is a little hard now for many of us (myself included) to imagine just how popular the original Top Hat film and many other Hollywood musicals of the time really were. This was a time when going to the cinema was mass market, affordable entertainment for millions of people every week, and the fantasy world of elegance and opulence that these musicals presented to people was in sharp contrast to the reality of many people’s daily lives in the years of the great economic depression of America (1929-39). People, it seems, needed their escape from reality, and Top Hat was one of those escapes. So many of the songs from this film also became huge popular hits, selling millions of records.
This new production of “Top Hat”, adapted for the stage by Matthew White & Howard Jacques, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, captures the essence of the original film and the escapist fantasy of its 1935 world. This is not a museum piece recreation of either the film or 1935, but a homage that allows subtle updates to make this show work on stage. These song and dance routines evoke that effortless elegance of the original film whilst also making everything work for an on-stage touring production. Some of the humour and social elements of this show do give its age away a little and in some places we have moved on in how we now view some things, but wisely these have been left alone and not updated to fit our current politically correct dogmas. They are as vital a part of the world of “Top Hat” as are the dance routines, music, and songs.
From the moment that the live band plays the overture and the curtain rises, you know that this musical has some classic songs, and few can have as many gems as this one. Here, included amongst many others are “Cheek to Cheek”, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”, “Top Hat White Tie and Tails” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. Once the curtain is up on this show, the impressive set design by Peter McKintosh plus costume design by Peter McKintosh & Yvonne Milnes quickly sets this escapist fantasy world for Phillip Attmore, Amara Okereke and the rest of the cast to perform all of these show numbers in.
Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke are both obviously having a lot of fun with the song and dance routines in this show, and why not, these are timeless Irving Berlin songs and music that they are getting the opportunity to work with, and not only are they performing them well, but with respect to their musical heritage. On a big stage like the one the Playhouse Theatre has to offer, they and the rest of the on-stage dancers/singers get to tap-dance and glide their way across Peter McKintosh’s always impressive and innovative set designs.
As well as the song and dance, “Top Hat” is also a comedy and Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke also have that light touch needed for this type of humour. Every comedy like this seems to need its “Fall Guys & Girls” and Stooges and here they are well performed by Sally Ann Triplett (Madge Hardwick), James Hume (Horace Hardwick), James Clyde (Bates) and Alex Gibson-Giorgio (Alberto Beddini).
The roles of Horace and Madge Hardwick are straight out of classic vaudeville theatre, and Sally Ann Triplett has the opportunity in this show to deliver some classic one liners. Here Horace and Mad ge also get, for me anyhow, one of the great duet songs of this show – “Outside of That I Love You”.
“Top Hat” is simply pure escapist fantasy entertainment, but to get the most out of this show, you have to be prepared to enter into the world of this show and just leave a little bit of reality behind for an evening. Judging from the responses of this audience, this show was exactly the tonic that many people needed for their evening out at the theatre.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com