The enchanting setting of The Mill at Sonning offers Theatre goers a delicious package consisting of dinner and a theatre show all in one ticket. The hot buffet-style main dishes are all self-service and clearly labelled to cater for every diner requirement. If you have any allergies or requests I would suggest contacting the venue first.
Top Hat is currently performing there offering a touch of 1920s glamour and toe-tapping musical entertainment. The dancing is superb and accompanied by a fantastic musical score.
Jack Butterworth as Jerry Travers and co-star Billie-Kay as Dale Tremont dance their way through the confusion of mistaken identity as to whether they will or won’t get together. The pair certainly compliment each other on stage and work beautifully in their roles.
Tiffany Graves in the role of Madge Hardwick gave an outstanding performance. Graves striking features added a depth of charm to her character. The conversations that took place before we met her between her husband Horace Hardwick (Paul Kemble) and Travers were far less complimentary at times.
Musical Director and supervisor Chris Poon created a pitch-perfect performance and he appeared at the end of the show to take a well-deserved bow and rapturous applause.
Costume designer Natalie Titchener and set designer Jason Denver bought a touch of the 1920s into the 2021 Christmas production for The Mill. Set details right down to the art deco light fittings place Top Hat in that era. All of the outfits worn by the cast created by Titchener are stunning especially the luxurious pink tuxedos with matching “Top Hats”.
Director Johnathan O’Boyle Bought together with the entire stage and auditorium in this production. I especially liked the use of the whole theatre space and using the stairs between the seats made the performance feel more submissive.
The storyline is easy to follow and would benefit from some slight editing. The ending is fairly inevitable and for a well-known show, there are no spoiler alerts. However, it was well-received and is a fantastic evening out.
Running from 16th October 2021 to 8th January 2022 please use the link below for further information.
Four Stars.
Photo credits Andreas Lambis Photography.
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It was named Most Welcoming Theatre by the Theatre Managers Association for 2016, 2017 and 2018.
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