Jerry Travers, the famous American tap dancer, arrives in London to appear in his first West End show. Travers meets the irresistible Dale Tremont, the girl of his dreams, and follows her across Europe in an attempt to win her heart.
Performed by a cast of 31 and accompanied by a live band of 15, this new musical comedy includes Irving Berlin classics from the original movie. A further ten numbers have been interpolated from Berlin’s 1200 strong back catalogue.
Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen (until 10 November 2012 ) are joined by Martin Ball and Vivien Parry who play husband and wife Horace and Madge Hardwick, Ricardo Afonso as Alberto Beddini and Stephen Boswell as Horace’s valet Bates. They are joined by ensemble and swing members Lucy Jane Adcock, Lauren Appleby, Caroline Bateson, Jeremy Batt, Alan Burkitt, Hannah Cauchi, Adam Rhys Charles, Matthew Cheney, Russell Leighton Dixon, Charlotte Gale, Ian Goss, Alyn Hawke, Paul Kemble, Jenny Legg, Martin McCarthy, Grace McKee, Carley Meyers, Kay Murphy, Tom Partridge, Alexandra Waite-Roberts, Holly Rostron and Charles Ruhrmund.
Choreographed by Bill Deamer with set designs by Hildegard Bechtler, costume designs are by Jon Morrell, lighting design is by Peter Mumford, sound is by Gareth Owen, new orchestrations are by Chris Walker, musical supervision is by Richard Balcombe and musical direction is by Daniel Jackson. With music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and based on the RKO motion picture, the screenplay by Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott has been adapted for the stage by Matthew White and Howard Jacques and is presented by arrangement with RKO Pictures LLC, Warner Bros Theatre Ventures Inc. and the Irving Berlin Music Company.
The London cast recording of Top Hat has recently been released by First Night Records. The track list comprises Overture, Puttin' On the Ritz, No Strings (I'm Fancy Free), No Strings (reprise), I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket, Isn't This A Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain)?, You're Easy to Dance With, What Is Love?, Top Hat, White Tie and Tails, The Piccolino, Wild About You, Cheek to Cheek, Better Luck Next Time, Latins Know How, Let's Face the Music and Dance, Outside of That, I Love You, I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket (reprise) and the Finale.
Top Hat is produced by Kenny Wax, and his partners on the production are Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley, Ted Hartley, Flora Suk-Hwa Yoon and Lee Menzies.