Phillip Attmore, Lucy St. Louis, Clive Carter and Sally Ann Triplett lead the cast of Kathleen Marshall’s brand new production of Irving Berlin’s classic musical TOP HAT at Chichester Festival Theatre
The full company has been announced for Chichester Festival Theatre’s eagerly anticipated, brand-new production of Irving Berlin’s classic tap extravaganza Top Hat, directed and choreographed by the multi Tony and Olivier Award-winner Kathleen Marshall. It runs from 14 July – 6 September.
Based on the classic 1935 film which starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the stage adaptation’s original West End production won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best New Musical and the Evening Standard Award for Best Night Out.
Phillip Attmore – one of Broadway’s most exciting performers, winner of the Fred and Adele Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer for Shuffle Along and a Playbill Breakout Performance Award for On the 20th Century – makes his UK debut as Jerry Travers. His US credits also include Hello, Dolly!, Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood and TV’s The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
Lucy St. Louis plays Dale Tremont; her award-winning West End roles include Glinda in Wicked, Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (making history as the first Black actress ever to play this leading role), Diana Ross in Motown: The Musical, Guenevere in Camelot in Concert, and Little Eva in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Clive Carter, three-time Olivier Award nominee for Moulin Rouge, Come From Away and Into The Woods, makes his Chichester debut as Horace. His many West End credits also include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wicked and Priscilla Queen of the Desert (WhatsOnStage Award nominee).
Sally Ann Triplett, who last appeared at Chichester in A Damsel in Distress (2015), returns to play Madge. Among her many distinguished London roles are Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Gran in The Witches and Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes for which she won a WhatsOnStage Award (National Theatre), and Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!.
Joining them are James Clyde as Bates and Alex Gibson-Giorgio as Beddini. The company is completed by Lindsay Atherton, Rhiannon Bacchus, Jeremy Batt, Freddie Clements, Pedro Donoso, Bethan Downing, Autumn Draper, Tilly Ducker, Laura Hills, Connor Hughes, James Hume, George Lyons, David McIntosh, Jordan Oliver, Emily Ann Potter, Molly Rees Howe, Kirsty Sparks and Toyan Thomas-Browne.
Justin Audibert, CFT’s Artistic Director, comments: ‘We are dancing with delight that Kathleen Marshall has assembled such a fantastic cast for what promises to be a glorious summer highlight in Chichester. In Phillip Attmore, Lucy St. Louis, Clive Carter and Sally Ann Triplett, we have two of the brightest rising stars paired with two of the most distinguished and seasoned performers in musical theatre, on both sides of the Atlantic, with a wonderful supporting company. We can’t wait to welcome them all.’
There may be trouble ahead,
But while there’s moonlight, and music, and love, and romance…
Let’s face the music and dance.
The musical equivalent of the finest vintage champagne – effervescent, elegant and exhilarating – Top Hat is a heady romantic cocktail laced with sparklingly witty dialogue, stunning choreography, lavish sets and gorgeous costumes. 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.
When Broadway star Jerry Travers arrives in London to open a new show, he crosses paths with model Dale Tremont, whose beauty sleep is rudely interrupted by Jerry tap dancing in the hotel suite above hers. Instantly smitten, Jerry vows to abandon his bachelor life to win her heart – but the path of true love never does run smooth. Especially since Dale has mistaken Jerry for his hapless producer Horace, who’s trying to avoid the wrath of his formidable wife Madge, and Dale’s own fiery Italian admirer is planning a trip to Venice for her to showcase his couture gowns…
Acclaimed American director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall comes to Chichester to stage this brand-new production.
A nine-time Tony nominee and three-time winner for her choreography on the Broadway productions of Wonderful Town, The Pajama Game and Anything Goes, her most recent revival of Anything Goes – which played at London’s Barbican, on a UK tour, and was also televised – received nine Olivier Award nominations in 2022 and Kathleen herself received the award for Best Choreographer. She has worked on more than twenty Broadway shows and she is the first woman to have directed a play, directed a musical and choreographed a musical on Broadway.
The set designer for Top Hat is Peter McKintosh; costume designers Peter McKintosh and Yvonne Milnes; musical supervisor Gareth Valentine, musical director Stephen Ridley, orchestrator & arranger Chris Walker, lighting designer Tim Mitchell, sound designer Paul Groothuis, casting director Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting, associate director Carol Lee Meadows and assistant director & choreographer Richard Pitt.
Following its Chichester run, the production of Top Hat will embark on a UK tour.
At Chichester, there will be a Dementia Friendly performance on 31 July and a Relaxed Performance on 26 August. A Summer Gala on 29 August will support Chichester Festival Youth Theatre.
