Top Hat the musical has a much-loved and much recounted history. It started life as a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers vehicle, showcasing America’s favourite on screen couple (their relationship off screen was much less endearing) and the songs and music of Irving Berlin. Berlin, who lived to be 101 and penned more hits (probably) than any other English speaking lyricist, incorporated some of his best known numbers into Top Hat, including “Cheek to Cheek”; and of course “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” – after which the film was named.
Top Hat the musical, on stage, is essentially a straight homage to the film. It contains most of the same songs and where possible the choreography of dance numbers is similar. Key costumes are retained from the screen version (most notably the feather gown worn by Summer Strallen on stage, and by Ginger Rogers on screen, for the Cheek to Cheek scene). Indeed, insofar as it is possible to basically take a much-loved film and stick it under a Proscenium arch, that’s what the stage show has done.
So why is it that Top Hat the musical inspires such love? The story is flimsy; the ending is insanely contrived; and the characters are, in one way or another, somewhat irritating. Yet the whole thing hangs together well despite all this, and is undeniably toe-tapping.
Is it the Irving Berlin touch? To a great degree, yes. It’s also the best example (probably) of a specific type of musical comedy, which has been dead for years. The genuine musical comedy, as popularised by the world of Wodehouse (for one), requires its characters to be two dimensional and it needs its endings to be contrived. That’s the whole point. It’s a kind of “what ho” to all the daft dramatic conventions that we’ve inherited down the ages – sort of like a Comedy of Errors with diner jackets and tennis.
As an example of its form, Top Hat the musical is pretty hard to beat. The musical numbers are both slow and fast. Some of the dialogue is pretty funny. And then there are the famous dance routines…
Top Hat the musical, on stage, is essentially a straight homage to the film. It contains most of the same songs and where possible the choreography of dance numbers is similar. Key costumes are retained from the screen version (most notably the feather gown worn by Summer Strallen on stage, and by Ginger Rogers on screen, for the Cheek to Cheek scene). Indeed, insofar as it is possible to basically take a much-loved film and stick it under a Proscenium arch, that’s what the stage show has done.
So why is it that Top Hat the musical inspires such love? The story is flimsy; the ending is insanely contrived; and the characters are, in one way or another, somewhat irritating. Yet the whole thing hangs together well despite all this, and is undeniably toe-tapping.
Is it the Irving Berlin touch? To a great degree, yes. It’s also the best example (probably) of a specific type of musical comedy, which has been dead for years. The genuine musical comedy, as popularised by the world of Wodehouse (for one), requires its characters to be two dimensional and it needs its endings to be contrived. That’s the whole point. It’s a kind of “what ho” to all the daft dramatic conventions that we’ve inherited down the ages – sort of like a Comedy of Errors with diner jackets and tennis.
As an example of its form, Top Hat the musical is pretty hard to beat. The musical numbers are both slow and fast. Some of the dialogue is pretty funny. And then there are the famous dance routines…