Charmingly warm and tip top tapping
This production of Top Hat at The Mill at Sonning directed by Jonathan O’Boyle is perfectly pitched to warm the scroogiest of hearts this Christmas. Famous for its dinner theatre, the Mill is a gorgeous setting to take you back in time to the MGM Musical era with a full belly of gorgeous food.
The story of Top Hat is age old – a case of mistaken identity leading to a bit of farce and obviously romance. Originally made famous by the inimitable Fred and Ginger it can be hard to translate the movie to stage but the creativity of the set and use of space at The Mill does a very good job. The set built on site by Jason Denvir is sublime, from the marble and mint colouring to the art deco light fixtures. It looks expensive, gives the scenarios weight and also is wonderfully multifunctioning from hotel rooms to lidos the set screams Hollywood. As with many scripts taken from movies it can be problematic moving through so many locations however the cheeky use of ensemble members in interludes actually adds to the character of the piece.
Choreography by Ashley Nottingham is fantastic – nostalgic and stylistically on point but with a creativity which feels unique, which is very hard to achieve with revivals. Particularly the big tap numbers, impressively performed by the small but perfectly formed ensemble.
The cast are decked out in gorgeous ensembles throughout, provided by designer Natalie Titchener. Special shout out to the array of gorgeous shoes which I would die to add to my collection.
Jonny Labey playing Jerry Travers is possibly one of the most charming things I’ve seen on stage. From the moment he starts talking the audience are putty in his hands, particularly when he smiles. Not unlike Fred, his vocals don’t soar like Sinatra but his character makes up for that in bounds.
Sadly the same warmth was not to be found in Dale Tremonts (Billie-Kay’s) vocals which left the climactic moments of Better Luck Next Time lacking. Her grace and dance were easy and lovely, however, some moments of direction meant the chemistry between herself and Jerry Travers felt a little uncomfortable.
Stand out moments came from the spiteful duet with Madge (Julia J Nagle) and Horace Hardwick (Paul Kemble) and the gorgeous vocals of Beddini (Andy Rees).
What is most disappointing about this show for me is the audience demographic – for a lovely theatre with such a glorious show it is important to be looking to challenge the programming/engage with a younger audience which this programming doesn’t do.
Additionally there are problematic moments in the script which aren’t addressed – particularly the pursuing of Dale in the earlier scenes, which to a modern standard wouldn’t be observed as quite as charming. The scripting of Beddini as the fool is also quite challenging and has for the most part been pandered to in this production – with the only diversely written character being ridiculed for his malapropisms and Latin roots. This could have been an opportunity to highlight the xenophobia.
Overall as the lady sat next to me in the stalls said after the opening number, ‘Well Done’.