Hat’s Off to Top Hat
Last Tuesday night I found myself dancing through the streets of Edinburgh. While I confess I have Strictly fever as much as the next person I usually reserve demonstrations of my chasse turns to the kitchen. My PDT (Public Displays of Tap) was the result of an absolutely fabulous evening attending the opening night of Top Hat at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre.
Since I saw the cast of Top Hat perform along with Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag on Strictly in 2012 I have been desperate to see the musical, but as I took my seat I was worried that the show would not live up to my long cultivated expectations. No worries there! I was immediately transported back to 1935 as Jerry Travers closes up his Broadway show and comes to London to star in his old friend Horace Hardwick’s production. Upon arriving in London he immediately falls for socialite Dale Tremont. Mistaking Jerry for Horace, who happens to be married to Dale’s best friend Madge. Hilarity ensues as Dale tries to spurn Jerry’s advance and the real Horace takes the flax.
Everything was pure perfection from the costumes to the magnificent art deco scenery to the classic Irving Berlin numbers and no expense spared. Too often when a show leaves the West End it is cut back, but Top Hat proved that you don’t have to be in London to put on a good show. The only thing missing was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although Alan Burkitt and Charlotte Gooch were faultless. It was the emphasis on the dancing however, which really made it for me. As the Edinburgh Evening News stated the dancers ‘barely moved a millimetre out of sync all night’ and to watch a performance which puts tap dancing rather than ballet or ballroom centre stage is a rare treat.
Top Hat will be in Edinburgh until Saturday 18th October and then it will move to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (for more dates click here). I can not emphasise enough how enjoyable this is although do be warned, side effects may include spontaneous choruses of Puttin’ on the Ritz.