The award-winning Top Hat takes residence at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall this season, and we are all excited! This Chichester Festival Theatre production is the musical equivalent of the finest vintage champagne: effervescent, elegant, and exhilarating.
The plot closely follows in the footsteps of Top Hat, the classic 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie, a romantic cocktail of witty dialogue, stunning choreography, lavish sets, and gorgeous costumes. Irving Berlin’s score brings out heavy hitters from Hollywood’s golden catalog: Cheek to Cheek, Let’s Face the Music and Dance, Top Hat, White Tie and Tails, and the evergreen Puttin’ on the Ritz.
When Broadway star Jerry Travers lands in London to open a new show, he crosses paths with model Dale Tremont, whose beauty sleep is rudely interrupted by Jerry’s tap dancing in the hotel suite above. Jerry falls for her instantly and decides it’s time to retire his bachelor ways. But the path of true love is never easy. Dale mistakes him for Horace—Jerry’s well-meaning but muddled producer—whose marriage to the formidable Madge is on shaky ground. Add Dale’s fiery Italian admirer and a looming trip to Venice, and the dance of misdirection grows ever more tangled.
Irving Berlin’s irresistible score includes some of Hollywood’s greatest songs: the immortal “Cheek to Cheek,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails,” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”
The original West End run of the musical swept up major honors, including the 2013 Olivier Award for Best New Musical and the Evening Standard Award for Best Night Out. This new version comes from acclaimed director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall. Her résumé spans more than twenty Broadway titles, three Tony wins, and a celebrated revival of Anything Goes that earned her nine Olivier nominations. She holds a rare place in theatre history as the first woman to direct a play, direct a musical, and choreograph a musical on Broadway.
The creative team behind her is a rich mix of familiar heavyweights and fresh energy. Matthew White and Howard Jacques craft the book. Peter McKintosh shapes the set design. Yvonne Milnes and McKintosh handle costumes. Music sits under the guidance of Gareth Valentine and Stephen Ridley, with orchestrations from Chris Walker. Lighting comes from Tim Mitchell, sound from Paul Groothuis, and casting from Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting. A skilled group of associates—Carol Lee Meadows, Cameron Wenn, Ben Davies, Imogen Clarke, Rich Pomeroy, and Richard Pitt—rounds out the team, keeping the production in step.
The result is a buoyant reminder of why classic musicals endure: wit, rhythm, and the thrill of two lives colliding in the most unlikely circumstances. Top Hat keeps its shine, its charm, and its light touch—proof that a well-placed tap sequence can still send an audience floating out into the night.
Top Hat is at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall from 12 December 2025 to 17 January 2026. Tickets from £27.
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