Review: Top Hat at Sunderland Empire

“… a well-deserved standing ovation…”

Top Hat by Irving Berlin adapted by Matthew White and Howard Jacques, Sunderland Empire

By Kay Wilson

Top Hat has a fantastic musical pedigree going back to its Hollywood film origins with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. This production does great justice to those roots and the iconic score by the legendary composer Irving Berlin.

There’s an expectation a musical will explode into life to take the audience on a journey right from the get-go and this production certainly did that. The ensemble showed great singing and dancing skills. They were entertaining and carried the action along to powerful effect.

The ensemble also worked well in their role as a foil for the leading man. From the minute he began his performance, Phillip Attmore, who was not only a principal star in this show, but also a star in the show within the show, was excellent. His tap dancing skills in particular were spellbinding. The amount of beats he managed to conjure up from just two feet was a sound to behold. It almost felt like you should have been watching the whole Riverdance line-up to produce such an impressive sound.

Attmore’s skill was matched by his co-star Amara Okereke as the love interest Dale Tremont. She also had a great voice and stage presence. They had great chemistry and their dancing and musical numbers were part of a very polished performance. You definitely believed in their blossoming romance.

The story of Top Hat is a frothy tale of mistaken identity and key to the plot are husband-and-wife duo, Horace and Madge Hardwick, very well played by Sally Ann Triplett and James Hume.  They bounced off each other and were good fun to watch.

I also really enjoyed the running gag centred around Horace Hardwick’s man servant Bates. He added a great amount of humour to the show with his various mood swings and badly-thought out disguises. James Clyde did a great job and delivered his punchlines very well. Alex Gibson-Giorgio as the hapless fashion designer Beddini was a good source of laughs as well.

When you imagine Hollywood films you immediately conjure up images of lush, opulent sets and this production of Top Hat did not disappoint. We were transported from London to Venice in epic, opulent style and full credit goes to set designer Peter McKintosh. There was a beautiful art deco theme throughout the show and a clever central fan-shaped structure on the stage which revolved to change scenes. They were so stunning they almost overshadowed the performances even when the cast were bedecked with feathers!

The costumes were reminiscent of the old Hollywood great movies. In one scene in particular the dancers performed a routine that could have come straight out of a Busby Berkeley extravaganza.

Top Hat has an infectious score. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails; Let’s Face the Music and Dance; and Puttin’ on the Ritz to name just a few. The audience was tapping their feet along to the music and seemed to enjoy the musical trip down memory lane. This musical had a live band, with musical direction by Stephen Ridley and they did an excellent job of giving the show so much energy and life.

There are character arcs and a fulfilling denouement in this production of Top Hat but this musical is all about the journey, not the getting there, in my view. And that trip is thoroughly enjoyable. I really liked the sheer spectacle of it all and being transported to another world. For a cold Winter evening I can’t think of a better way to spend some time. Clearly the audience on the night I saw the show thought the same, as there was a well-deserved standing ovation.

Top Hat plays at Sunderland Empire until Saturday 22 November. Tickets are available here.

Kay Wilson is a North East-based writer. She won Runner-Up in the Self-Published category at the Comedy Women in Print awards for her debut novel, The Stand-Up Mam. It was inspired by her own experience of performing comedy for two years and charts the adventures of a perfect mother who does stand-up. It transforms her but blows up family life. Described as ‘hilarious and heart-warming’, signed copies can be bought at The Bound bookshop, Whitley Bay. The novel is also available on Amazon here. Kay has a website which promotes extraordinary women and gives updates on her writing life.