This summer’s musical treat
Chichester Festival Theatre
⭑⭑⭑⭑
Every year I look forward to the Chichester Festival Theatre musical. Among the first class revivals of recent years have been Oliver!, South Pacific, Crazy For You with the incomparable Charlie Stemp, and Gypsy with Imelda Staunton. This year, they have chosen Top Hat, and, while it may not reach the heights of the aforementioned hits, it does not disappoint. There’s already an extensive UK tour booked for it, so you will have the chance to see for yourself.
Once again, Chichester have put together a mouth watering feast. Top Hat is primarily a tap dance show- it was written for Fred Astaire- and the dancing here is creme de la creme. Choreographed, as well as directed, by the great Kathleen Marshall, who was responsible for the London hit Anything Goes, the solo dances, the what you might call Fred and Ginger numbers and the chorus line work are all masterclasses in how it should be done. The sound of the tap is music in itself and 16 dancers or thereabouts combining to stamp the floor at the same time is explosive. The discipline, especially of the chorus lines, is genuinely awesome, as arm-in-arm they make a circular movement, all the while high kicking. Ms Marshall’s choreography is exuberant, uplifting and joyous.
A brief word about the story. A superstar tap dancer called Jerry falls in love with a woman called Dale but, owing to a misunderstanding, she thinks he’s his friend Horace, husband of her friend Madge. Spoiler alert- it all works out in the end.
Then there’s the music. Irving Berlin wrote 1500 songs throughout a long career but the five he wrote for the original film represent him at his peak and extending his ability to write songs that serve the story: No Strings establishes the carefree character of Jerry, as well as his prowess as a tap dancer; Isn’t This A Lovely Day starts with Jerry and Dale in a standoff but reveals her increasing attachment to him as the song progresses; Cheek To Cheek, the centrepiece of the musical, shows Jerry seducing Dale through the power of dance- a true representation of the saying ‘dance is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire, with climactic moments as he swings her through the air; and then there are the two big chorus line numbers Top Hat, White Tie And Tails and The Piccolino, which end the first act and begin the second in the stage version. All praise to Stephen Ridley and the 10 piece orchestra for their swinging sound.
Top Hat, released in cinemas in 1935, only became a stage musical in 2011 when it was adapted by Matthew White and Howard Jacques. There are many more Berlin tunes added, quite a few plundered from other Fred and Ginger movies, including Puttin’ On The Ritz, I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket, Let Yourself Go and Let’s Face The Music And Dance.
The six principals are superb, and the ensemble is wonderful. The hardest task goes to Phillip Attmore. How to step into the shoes of Fred Astaire? Not to mention that the show itself refers to him as a world-class dancer. And, unlike the legendary star, he has to perform live. He may not quite be Fred Astaire (who is?) but he is a likeable lead and an accomplished dancer.
Lucy St Louis as Dale is the full package. She has a powerful singing voice, acts well and dances beautifully. For me she was a revelation, although I shouldn’t be surprised, because she’s already played Glinda in Wicked and Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera (you may have seen her perform at the Platinum Party At The Palace).
Clive Carter and Sally Ann Triplett as Horace and Madge provide a weight of experience and a huge dose of comedy. James Clyde as Horace’s servant Bates in various disguises, and Alex Gibson-Giorgio as Alberto, a comical Italian fashion designer and Dale’s would-be lover also keep the laughs coming. I know it’s no longer acceptable to make fun of foreigners who don’t speak English as well as us- ‘I am very displeased to meet you!’- but such lines were written a long time ago.
There is a great deal of funny lines, or perhaps corny jokes would be a better description. Here are a couple of examples: Horace is afraid of flying because the first word you see on signs at the airport is ‘Terminal’. He also explains that a man is incomplete until he’s married- ‘Then he’s finished.’ But that’s very much in the mood of this light comedy which, as I said, is about dance first, then music, and only then comedy to fill the gaps.
Peter McIntosh‘s luminous art deco set is very clever. The thrust stage is kept clear for dancing, although there are semi-circular rises. At the back there is a revolve that swiftly takes us from one bedroom to another bedroom to a bar. He along with Yvonne Milnes also designed the costumes which have the loose, easy-going feel of the 1940s rather than slavishly copying the 1930s style of the film.
I left the auditorium on a high. Top Hat on stage may not have the wow factor of Crazy For You or Anything Goes. But then again there were no equivalent films to compare them with, so it is disadvantaged by not being able to match the perfection of the film. On the other hand, the fact that it is performed live, and you can see a group of supremely talented people right there in front of you creating beautiful, athletic, complex dance together to some of the greatest songs ever written, makes Top Hat at Chichester Festival Theatre, despite any imperfections, a joy better than any flickering screen.
Top Hat can be seen at Chichester Festival Theatre until 6 September 2025. Buy tickets direct from the theatre
Paul was given a review ticket by the theatre.
