Despite a late start and a pre-interval break due to what seemed to be a technical problem or perhaps the Playhouse’s resident ghost, Albert being up to his old tricks, Top Hat provided a thrilling night for the audience on a mild autumn evening at the end of September. The original film, starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, was perhaps paramount in many minds, but 90 years on, the stage adaptation, with its enchanting Art Deco set, is going from strength to strength. The score by Irving Berlin oozes class and is complemented by a vibrant live orchestra in the pit. During Puttin’ On The Ritz, the ensemble cast sweeps over the stage in an explosion of colour and style.

Director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall strikes the delicate balance exactly right between story, song, and performance, explaining in the programme notes that “you can overcrowd a show with dance.” Her secret, it seems, was essential low-key scenes that provided humour and dialogue, giving the audience and cast something of a breather.

Phillip Attmore as Jerry Travers is a sight to behold; the rip-roaring tap dance routines are bedazzling. Attmore’s chemistry with Amara Okereke (Dale Tremont) during Cheek To Cheek was a spirit lifting performance in these troubled and dark times. Perhaps the showstopper was during Let’s Face The Music And Dance. The scene with Fred and Ginger from the original film is one of cinema’s most iconic moments.

Attmore, in fine voice, brought it to life for a modern audience with yet another memorable routine. There is also a lot of fun to be had with many laugh-out-loud moments. James Clyde as Bates and Alex Gibson-Giorgio playing the hot-tempered Italian designer Alberto Beddini help push this classic tale of mistaken identity into farce.

They both display comical movement, facial expressions, and timing that raise some of the biggest chuckles of the night.  James Hume (Horace Hardwick) and Sally Ann Triplett (Madge Harwick), as a madly in (and out of )love couple, are also brilliant with more flawless comic timing.

The laughter and applause from the Edinburgh audience also helped ramp up the atmosphere after the aforementioned technical pauses, which ultimately didn’t detract from the show.

Four Stars.

Reviewer Richard Purden.

https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/top-hat/edinburgh-playhouse/