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BrumHour saw Top Hat at the invite of Birmingham Hippodrome.
By Dave Massey
Top Hat at Birmingham Hippodrome: Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐A dancing spectacular!
Directed by Kathleen Marshall, adapted by Matthew White and Howard Jones, music and lyrics by Irving Berlin
Phillip Attmore is Jerry Travers, an American performer with excellent dancing skills. He is invited to London’s West End by producer Horace Hardwick (James Hume). Jerryis mistaken for Horace by Dale Tremont (Amara Okereke). This becomes all the more awkward when they all end up in Italy with Horace’s wife, Madge (Emma Williams).
This is an all-dancing, all-singing, light comic farce with an easy-going, gentle humour. The jokes are daft but shamlessly delivered, which makes them funny. The centre of the set rotates, and with Hollywood/Broadway old school glamour oozing throughout. There are plenty of ensemble moments, but the product really is about the chemistry and talent of Phillip Attmore and Amara Okereke, who both shine on stage.
The plot is very easy going, and I knew at least four of the songs, Cheek to Cheek and Top Hat, White Tie and Tails, plus Puttin’ On the Ritz and Let’s Face the Music and Dance, which actually come from other musical films by Irving Berlin.
A dancing spectacular, Top Hat, is at Birmingham Hippodrome until 7th March 2026. Book tickets here: birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/top-hat.
