Phillip Attmore leads the brilliant cast of Top Hat in a night of joyous entertainment at His Majesty's Theatre. Image - Aberdeen Performing Arts
Top Hat isn’t just puttin' on the Ritz... it’s puttin' on the glitz, glamour and sheer exuberance of the golden days of Hollywood musicals on the stage of His Majesty’s Theatre.
The result is a show that transports you from the heart of the Granite City to the sparkling romance of those Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies – a frothy concoction that really does make you forget the world for more than two hours.
Now, you can reach for words like “dazzling”, “showstopping”, “sumptuous” to describe the perfect blend of Irving Berlin’s timeless music, choreography that leaves the audience breathless and the non-stop comedic one-liners and zingers that make Top Hat a top-drawer musical.
But the one word that really sums it all up is “joyous”.
Taps on for the magic of Hollywood musicals. Image - Aberdeen Performing Arts
From the opening number of Puttin’ On The Ritz – a full cast, tap-dancing treat that makes His Majesty’s stage look bigger than ever – to the ensemble finale reprise of Top Hat White Tie And Tails, the audience loved every second.
The Art Deco-infused staging is simple but at the same time simply awesome with revolves and lighting, transporting the action from New York to London to Venice (including planes and carriage rides).
Costumes – from 30s haute couture to showgirls in feathers and diamante – are stunning and add to that sense of being transported to a more glamorous time and place.
But the real stars are the ensemble cast who make the roller-coaster story of Top Hat seem as fresh as when cinema audiences first saw it more than 90 years ago.
It’s your classic Hollywood boy-meets-girl yarn blended with the sort of mistaken identity hooplah that’s been around since Shakespeare.
The staging of Top Hat is as much a star of the show as the cast. Image - Aberdeen Performing Arts
Phillip Attmore steps into the tap shoes of Fred Astaire to play Broadway star Jerry Travers who becomes smitten with model Dale Tremont and finds the path of true love is a twisting, turning thing indeed.
Phillip simply oozes charisma and style and that old school Hollywood dashing charm, all while dazzling (there’s that word again) in the dance routines.
Dale, created by the sublime Ginger Rogers, was played on the opening night at HMT by Lindsay Atherton and she made the role truly her own.
It’s quite a talent to combine faultless dancing, effortless singing and razor-sharp comedic timing in one package. But Lindsay, who will also take the lead role tonight (Wednesday, March 11), made it look easy – and wonderful. Even better that the Aberdeen actor was doing it in front of her home crowd.
The rest of the cast more than met the high bar set by Phillip and Lindsay, with extreme kudos to James Hume and Emma Williams as the squabbling, but ultimately loving, couple, Horace and Madge Hardwick, who were front and centre of brilliant comic moments.
Lindsay Atherton was given a special ovation from her home crowd in Aberdeen. Image - Aberdeen Performing Arts
Emma, in particular, made Madge a loveable force of nature to the point of almost – but not quite – stealing the show.
Not quite, because this show belongs to the whole cast and production team. They brought sheer magic to numbers like Cheek to Cheek, Let’s Face The Music And Dance, and that sublime Top Hat White Tie And Tails.
The audience were on their feet, cheering and clapping at the finale and little wonder – this was a night that deserved a long and warm standing ovation.
And extra applause to Phillip for pushing Lindsay to the front of the stage at the curtain call so she could get just a bit more love from her home crowd.
So, put on your top hat, tie up your white tie, brush off your tails and get along to His Majesty’s ... you’ll be in heaven - for a couple of hours at least.
Irving Berlin’s Top Hat runs at His Majesty’s Theatre until Saturday, March 14.
You can find information and tickets at Aberdeen Performing Arts website.
Review by Scott Begbie