TOP HAT – Mayflower Theatre Southampton until 11th April 2026

Review: Pat Hayward 2nd April 2026

The big 2025 Chichester Festival Theatre summer production of “Top Hat” is in Southampton this week where it completes its UK and Ireland tour at Mayflower Theatre before setting off on an international trip starting off in Paris. This production is based very closely on the original 2011 stage version of the classic 1935 film which played here at Mayflower Theatre ahead of its West End opening and returned in 2015. The story is about an American tap dancer named Jerry Travers, who arrives in London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick. He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont to win her affection, but confusion abounds on a trip to Italy, where Dale is counselled by Hardwick’s long-suffering wife Madge and seeks solace with Italian fashion designer Alberto Beddini. More than enough for what should be a straight-forward love story.

This is a big production, with a cast of over 30, a large orchestra conducted by Luke Holman and a score by Irving Berlin, the show looks and sounds spectacular. In fact, the set, by Peter McKintosh, is absolutely amazing, taking us from City to City, hotel to theatre and back again in a blink of an eye. Lit with precision by Tim Mitchell, the design shifts and transforms throughout: colours and light moving with perfect synchronisation with the music supporting the choreography beautifully. However, it is so impressive that it leaves very little room for the big dance numbers, of which there are several. How director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall manages to fit so many dancers into such a tight space and that they are able to perform their complex routines without mishap is incredible. The ensemble are outstanding and add a level of classiness to the show, beyond what I would normally expect.

The costumes by Yvonne Milnes and McKintosh are splendid – all white tie and beaded gowns, the period pictured with classic elegance. Paul Groothuis, the sound designer, is a master when it comes to musicals and yet again he delivers absolute perfection – every word and every note is delivered in a way that is clear and can be heard properly in every quarter of the auditorium.

While Phillip Attmore and Nicole-Lily Baisden make a genial pairing as hoofer Jerry Travers and model Dale Tremont, it’s in the comic sparring of the older married couple, played by James Hume and Emma Williams, that gives the evening a little spark of theatre. Hume’s harassed impresario Horace Hardwick is all rumpled dignity, while Baisden has the bearing of an aggrieved money-grabbing divorcee. Overall the humour is a little jaded and often overplayed, though Alex Gibson-Giorgio playing Italian fashion designer Alberto Beddini does manage to carry it with aplomb. In fact Gibson-Giorgio’s overall performance is one of the few that shines through the sparkle along with that of .James Clyde, as Bates. Horace Hardwick’s “man” brings an almost perfect level of comic timing to the role, every entrance and reaction, with apparent effortlessness.

From the opening bars of Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On The Ritz” you know that this is a going to be an evening of pure musical joy, it’s such a shame that some of the performances do not match the overall design excellence of the production. Okay maybe “Top Hat” as a show does not reach the pinnacles of “Anything Goes” or “Crazy For You” but it is a classic and with songs such as “Cheek to Cheek”, “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails”, “Isn’t This a Lovely Day”, and “The Piccolino”, Marshall’s ensemble choreography honours the tradition, making it a joy to watch, though some of the individual routines fall short of the high expectations set by the other aspects of the show.

“Top Hat” is, without question, an easy watch. The book is light, the characters are lighter, the world outside does not exist. If you like classic show tunes, chorus line dance routines, all driven by a superb set of musicians then I wholeheartedly recommend you get along to Mayflower Theatre this week, before the show crosses the channel on the next leg of its adventure.