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Irvin Berlin’s charming farcical comedy graces Edinburgh’s Playhouse this October, top hat and tails dusted off and pressed.
Across a running time more generous than its simple plot deserves, Top Hat runs along in an unusually relaxed manner for musicals these days. It’s refreshing not to have to be bombarded with song and story to be entertained, but the plot does thin out considerably in Act II.
The production’s greatest charm is not taking itself too seriously. Matthew White and Howard Jaques’ adaptation is a laugh-a-minute farce that is infectiously charming.
Top Hat sees dancer Jerry Travers (Phillip Attmore) travel across Europe to woo Dale Tremont (Amara Okereke) – with a hilarious case of mistaken identity along the way.
James Hume and Sally Ann Triplett are a delightful pairing as the warring Hardwick’s, bringing explosive comedy with their trusty butler Bates, devilishly played by James Clyde.
The laughs are completed in the ridiculously over-the-top Alex Gibson-Giorgio as the larger-than-life Italian designer Alberton Beddini, who delights in a thunderous ‘Latins Know How’.
Under the stupor of Peter McKintosh’s glitzy set, McKintosh and Yvonne Milnes costumes fail to meet the bar. In particular, Tremont’s show-stopping dresses simply don’t live up to the plot.
Irving Berlin’s score soars to new heights under Stephen Ridley’s musical direction. Classic standards – ‘Putting on the Ritz’, ‘Cheek to Cheek’ and ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’ are a stark reminder of Berlin’s timeless skill.
A charming relaxed evening of song and dance, Top Hat might not reinvent the wheel – but with Berlin’s genius behind it, it doesn’t have to.
Top Hat the Musical at Edinburgh Playhouse until Saturday 4th October, then touring
