Top Hat – Sunderland Empire

Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin 

Writers: Matthew White & Howard Jacques based on the RKO Motion Picture 

Director and Choreographer: Kathleen Marshall 

Class never goes out of style: a statement reinforced by the packed house at Sunderland Empire, there to see a musical based on a film that is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. 

Perhaps the most famous of the movies that teamed Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together, Top Hat was a massive hit right in the middle of The Great Depression, was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, and features some of Irving Berlin’s most iconic songs including Cheek to Cheek, Let’s Face the Music and Dance, and of course, Top Hat, White Tie and Tails. This stage version first appeared in 2011, won Best New Musical at the 2013 Olivier Awards, and sticks very closely to the movie’s paper-thin plot. 

American dancer Jerry Travers (Phillip Attmore) travels to London to star in a new show for his bumbling friend Horace Hardwick (James Hume). There he meets and falls in love with fashion model Dale Tremont (Amara Okereke) who, through several misunderstandings, believes Jerry to be Horace and flees to Venice, disgusted by this apparent philanderer. In Venice, Horace’s gregarious wife Madge (Sally Ann Triplett) welcomes Dale and her designer benefactor Alberto Beddini (Alex Gibson-Giorgio) but things are complicated by the arrival of Horace, Horace’s manservant Bates (James Clyde) and Jerry who is determined to woo Dale despite her apparent contempt for him. 

With beautiful scenery, opulent costumes and impressive lighting design, Top Hat looks gorgeous, while Irving Berlin’s songs are all brought to life with superb vocals and flawless dancing with Kathleen Marshall’s classy choreography, and an amazing orchestra under the baton of Stephen Ridley. Phillip Attmore ably carries the bulk of the show as Jerry, combining a great singing voice with effortless moves and an easy and genuine charm. Amara Okereke has a beautiful voice, James Hume and Alex Gibson-Giorgio show great comic abilities, and Sally Anne Triplett is… well, Sally Ann Triplett. Stealing every scene he is in is James Clyde as Bates: a hysterically funny performance that is a great asset to the overall production.  

If the show has a fault, it lies squarely with the script. Yes, the slight plot is lifted directly from the film, but the dialogue is very often twee and many of the jokes are older than the 90-year-old film that the show is based on. In this respect, the first act is quite a slog, only carried by strong performances and Berlin’s tunes. However, things do improve in act two, particularly with the appearance of the always excellent Sally Ann Triplett’s Madge, who adds the sparkle and sass that was mostly lacking pre-interval. The second act also amps up the farcical elements of the plot which, while being easily cleared up by people just talking less vaguely to each other, are still very funny and lead to some amusing scenes, particularly involving Hume’s Horace and Clyde’s Bates. It’s here too that two standout numbers occur – Latins Know How performed by Gibson-Giorgio’s preening Beddini, and Outside of That, I Love You: a hilarious love/hate song performed by Triplett and Hume which foreshadows Berlin’s own Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better from Annie Get Your Gun. These two songs are reminiscent of the tone of similar musicals like Anything Goes and Crazy for You, bringing much needed broad comedy to the piece and making one wish there were a few more like this.  

Minor gripes aside, this production is a class act. Take a top tip, and tip your hat to this tip top Top Hat! 

Runs until 22nd November 2025