Beautiful, funny, bursting with song and dance: What more could you ask for? This perfect formula for lively entertainment is what defines Top Hat, running at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris until May 3. Set to the instantly captivating music of Irving Berlin (1888-1989), this classic musical, first imagined from the 1935 film Top Hat by Mark Sandrich, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, is now enjoying a vibrant stage adaptation. Under the direction of conductor Luke Holman, the show moves briskly for two and a half hours.
Time flies by. The show stacks up one irresistible hit after another, some of which are delightfully catchy, such as “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “Puttin’ On the Ritz,” and of course the ineffable “Cheek to Cheek,” which lingers in both heart and body. To the five songs featured in the film, the production adds around 10 more from Berlin’s repertoire, giving the performance even more energy.
In its first stage adaptation in 2011 by Matthew White and Howard Jacques, staged at the Milton Keynes Theatre in the United Kingdom, Top Hat received three Olivier Awards in 2013. The elegant, polished production now at the Châtelet in Paris was re-envisioned in 2025 by Kathleen Marshall as part of the Chichester Festival Theatre.
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