Top Hat – Liverpool Empire

Glitz, glamour, sophistication and flair, Irving Berlin’s Top Hat takes to the stage to reinvigorate and regenerate the musicals of times gone by. A magical reminder of the sheer talent and romance of the theatre. Adapted for stage by authors Matthew White and Howard Jacques and based on RKO’s motion picture. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall.

Get your toes tapping from the moment the curtain is raised and watch in awe of the perfectly timed and varied choreography (Richard Pitt, Carol Lee Meadows and Kathleen Marshall) as the dancers showcase some iconic footwork from the soft shoe shuffle to an exciting crescendo for the end of act 1 of precision dancing in a revolution of the stage as a company.

The staging (Peter Mckintosh) was grand and took you straight back in time to those old but ornate buildings. The rotating stage was designed cleverly to be able to change the scenes and also portray ongoing simultaneous action happening at the same time as the main scene. The set is designed incorporating the shapes and art deco style of the time. An opulent multifunctional home for this production.

The costumes (Yvonne Milne’s), make-up and hairstyles (Mark Marston) were in keeping with the style and period. The colours popped on stage and also complemented the main characters well. It was abundantly clear of a character’s role and status without need for further clarification due to the authenticity of the costume designs.

The music (Stephen Ridley, Chris Walker and Gareth Valentine) was a blend of powerful and melodic sounds which had you bopping along the whole way through. Portraying the mood and atmosphere of the story and providing an energetic and dynamic score. Sound (Paul Groothuis) was also incorporated using effects on an off stage for both clarity and comedy. Lighting (Tim Mitchell) was used not only to spotlight main action or characters on scenes, portray mood and weather. But also, it was wonderfully projected against the design of the staging to produce some visually pleasing aesthetics to the performance.

The two main characters of Dale (Amara Okereke) and Jerry (Phillip Attmore) were played with passion and precision. Dale being a more defiant and stubborn character, Okereke wowed with some pitch perfect and outstanding vocals. Whilst the more charming and suave Jerry showed he really had the pizazz with his tremendous and intricate footwork.

Bates (James Clyde) was a brilliant comedic character who pulls the whole story together. Not always a speaking character, his physical theatre and expression demonstrate what his character is thinking and feeling brilliantly.

Horace (James Hume), bumbling, lovable and with a childlike naivety about him. A very fun character who I thoroughly enjoyed every time he entered the stage. I found myself feeling sorry for the mishaps his character was relentlessly faced with.

Madge (Sally Ann Triplett), a powerful woman who knows her own mind and how to get what she wants, a wonderful performance and a perfect comedy duo with dry humour with Horace. An overall fantastic delivery of a character which had a strong actress to lead it.

Alberto (Alex Gibson-Giorgio), eccentric, energetic and over dramatic. Such a fabulous character who develops throughout the show. Wonderfully fun.

The chorus was well timed and supported the principle cast wonderfully. They played a variety of roles both speaking and non speaking throughout.

It was refreshing to see a show with jokes which were clever and made the audience genuinely laugh. An absolute smasher of a show and hopefully one which will set a trend to bring many of the old classics flooding to the forefront.

Reviewer: Steph Wiswall

Reviewed: 28th October 2025

North West End UK Rating: