Top Hat at The Bristol Hippodrome review scores 5 out of 5
Posted on: 2014-11-19
Our rating:
Top Hat is a classic, timeless musical rebooted for a new generation that overflows will class, style, humour, wit, warmth, romance, and an intoxicating extravagance that makes it irresistible from start to finish.
The showbiz glitz and glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age hits the city with a sumptuously gorgeous production of Top Hat, which runs at the Bristol Hippodrome from Tuesday 18th to Saturday 29th November.
Based on the 1935 RKO screwball comedy starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the gossamer-thin plot tells the story of Broadway sensation Jerry Travers (Alan Burkitt), who croons and tap dances his way across Europe to win the heart of high society girl, Dale Tremont (Charlotte Gooch).
The production is on tour straight from its London run, where it nabbed three Olivier awards for Best Musical, Best Costume Design and Best Choreographer.
And rightly so. This is an absolutely sensational production, kicking off as it means to go on with the barnstorming opener, Puttin' On The Ritz. In fact, it's hard to think of another musical which is so bursting at the seams with as many memorable musical numbers, other Irving Berlin hits including Let's Face The Music, Cheek to Cheek, I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket, and the titular Top Hat.
It's a funny, heartwarming love story that also gives plenty of opportunity for ribald, saucy humour, wicked one liners, deliciously manic screwball slapstick, and a preposterously entertaining case of mistaken identity.
As well as the superb Burkitt and Gooch, Clive Hayward is a delight as Travers' rich, charmingly bumbling cad producer Horace Hardwick, and John Conroy as Bates the butler - intermittently espousing nonsensical family epithets and assuming a menagerie of crazy disguises - is hilarious. Sebastien Torkia as Travers' love rival, Alberto Beddini, is also pure comic gold, all exaggerated gesticulations and incorrect idioms ("It's like finding a noodle in a haystack"), culminating in an uproarious bedroom dance striptease.
Director Matthew Wright - who also adapted it for the stage with Howard Jacques - has created a theatrical masterpiece that is spellbinding, enchanting and utterly captivating.
Bill Deamer's choreography is stunning and flawless, and Jon Morrell's 200 hundred-plus costumes make up perhaps one of the most breathtaking, dazzling wardrobes ever conceived for a stage production. Hildegard Bechtler's set design, which takes in Art Deco spaces, Venetian panoramas, aeroplane interiors and palatial hotel suites, is gob-smackingly, eye-poppingly audacious in pure scope and spectacle.
As Burkitt and Gooch (ultimately wearing the iconic Ginger Roger's-style feather gown) dance cheek to cheek in a dizzying display of impeccably timed choreographic flourishes, you'll be totally, utterly won over by its beauty, energy and exuberance.
This is a classic, timeless musical rebooted for a new generation that overflows will class, style, humour, wit, warmth, romance, and an intoxicating extravagance that makes it irresistible from start to finish.
5/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
