Top Hat: A Guide to Screen and Stage

The musical Top Hat (US/UK) brings the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the glorious, tap-dancing magic of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ world-famous dance partnership to the stage. Both the 2011 stage musical and its 1935 film inspiration tell the story of Broadway sensation Jerry Travers, who dances his way across Europe to win the heart of society girl Dale Tremont. An uplifting and entertaining romantic comedy celebrating 1930s song, style and romance, the stage show features 14 songs by Irving Berlin, including “Cheek to Cheek,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” But how does the theatrical adaptation differ from the movie? Here’s a quick guide to the film and stage versions of this effervescent musical.

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HISTORY

Film
RKO Radio Pictures released the movie musical Top Hat on August 29, 1935. Directed by Mark Sandrich and Allan Scott, the screwball comedy musical starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and featured Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore Erik Rhodes and Helen Broderick. The third of nine motion pictures co-starring Astaire and Rogers, Top Hat was by far the most successful; the release was a critical smash, becoming the second-highest grossing film of the year. The movie contains five songs with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. All five numbers became standards, making history when they simultaneously held five positions on the radio’s new “hit parade.”

Stage
The stage adaptation of Top Hat made its world premiere on August 16, 2011 at the Milton Keynes Theatre in Buckinghamshire, featuring Summer Strallen as Dale, Tom Chambers as Jerry and Martin Ball as Horace. After a 17-week tour of the UK, the production moved to London’s West End, opening at the Aldwych Theatre on May 9, 2012. Featuring songs by Irving Berlin, with additional orchestrations by Chris Walker and a book by Matthew White and Howard Jacques, the musical won the Evening Standard Award for “Best Night Out,” along with three 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical.

CHARACTERS

Film and Stage

JERRY TRAVERS – An American Broadway star
DALE TREMONT – A young American society beauty
HORACE HARDWICK – A bumbling British theatre producer
MADGE HARDWICK – Dale’s American friend, married to Horace
BATES – Horace’s personal valet (English)
ALBERTO BEDDINI – An Italian fashion designer
ENSEMBLE – Various roles, including partygoers, performers, hotel guests and staff

SONGS

Film

• “Opening Sequence” – Jerry and Male Ensemble
• “No Strings (I’m Fancy Free)” – Jerry
• “No Strings (Reprise)” – Jerry, Dale & Horton
• “Isn’t This a Lovely Day (to be Caught in the Rain)” – Jerry & Dale
• “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” – Jerry & Ensemble
• “Cheek to Cheek” – Jerry & Dale
• “The Piccolino” – Jerry, Dale & Company
• “The Piccolino (Reprise)” – Jerry & Dale

Stage (Songs in bold were added for the stage version.)

Act I

• “Overture” – The Orchestra
• “Puttin’ on the Ritz” – Jerry & Ensemble
• “No Strings (I’m Fancy Free)” – Jerry
• “No Strings (Reprise)” – The Orchestra
• “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket” – Jerry
• “Isn’t This a Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain)” – Jerry
• “You’re Easy to Dance With” – Dale
• “What Is Love” – Soubrette & Female Ensemble
• “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” – Jerry & Ensemble

Act II

• “The Piccolino” – Madge & Ensemble
• “Wild About You” – Dale
• “Cheek to Cheek” – Jerry & Ensemble
• “Better Luck Next Time” – Dale
• “Latins Know How” – Beddini
• “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” – Jerry & Dale
• “Outside of That I Love You” – Horace & Madge
• “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket (Reprise)” – Ensemble
• “Finale: Let’s Face the Music and Dance” – Company

PLOT

Film
American dancer Jerry Travers comes to London to star in a show produced by the bumbling Horace Hardwick. While practicing a tap routine in his hotel bedroom, he awakens Dale Tremont on the floor below. She storms upstairs to complain, whereupon Jerry falls hopelessly in love with her and proceeds to pursue her all over London. Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace, who is married to her friend Madge.

Following the success of his opening night in London, Jerry follows Dale to Venice, where she is visiting Madge and modelling/promoting the gowns created by Alberto Beddini, an Italian fashion designer with a penchant for malapropisms. Jerry proposes to Dale, who is appalled that her friend’s husband could behave in such a manner. Rejecting Jerry, she instead agrees to marry Beddini. Fortunately, Horace’s meddling English valet, Bates – whom Horace had sent to keep tabs on Dale – disguises himself as a priest and conducts a false ceremony.

On a gondola ride, Jerry clears things up with Dale, and they return to the hotel to sort the confusion. Singing and dancing to an Italian tune called “The Piccolino,” the reconciled lovers dance off into the Venetian sunset.

Stage
After wowing audiences on Broadway (“Puttin’ on the Ritz”), American dancer Jerry Travers travels to London to star in a show produced by his friend, the bumbling Horace Hardwick. Horace invites Jerry to join him on a quick weekend trip to visit Madge, Horace’s wife of three years, who has a penchant for spending Horace’s money. When Jerry launches into a spirited tap number in Horace’s hotel room (“No Strings”), Dale Tremont, who is staying in the room below him, insists that a certain Horace Hardwick, whom she has never met, settle the matter. She knocks on Jerry’s door, and he is immediately smitten. They never exchange names, and she assumes he’s Horace. Still, Jerry decides to pursue her romantically (“I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket”). In a series of interactions, Jerry pursues Dale romantically, hoping to charm and impress her (“Isn’t This a Lovely Day”). Though she is intrigued (“You’re Easy to Dance With”), Dale rejects his overtures. At Jerry’s show (“What Is Love?”), Jerry learns Dale’s name and discovers that she’s heading to Venice to visit her friend Madge. With newfound vigor, he decides to join Horace on the trip (“Top Hat, White Tie and Tails”).

At the Hotel Venezia, Madge leads the guests and staff in singing “The Piccolino.” Meanwhile, at his boss’s request, Horace’s English valet, Bates, dons a variety of disguises to stealthily gather intel on Dale. Dale tells Madge that Horace pursued her romantically, but Madge is calmly unfazed. Hoping to give “Horace” a taste of his own medicine, Dale flirts shamelessly with Jerry while claiming to be married to a jealousy-prone boxer. But Jerry sees through her ruse and responds with passion, flustering Dale, who hurriedly leaves.

That evening, Dale stuns everyone at dinner by appearing in a gorgeous gown crafted by her flamboyant designer, Alberto Beddini. Madge encourages Dale to dance with Jerry. Confused, Dale complies, and as they dance “Cheek to Cheek,” Jerry asks Dale to marry him. Believing he’s already married, Dale slaps Jerry. Dale tells Madge what happened, and Madge, believing her husband proposed to Dale, punches Horace in the eye. Seeing how despondent Dale has become (“Better Luck Next Time”), Beddini offers to marry her, to keep her “protected.” Dale accepts, and they decide to marry that same evening (“Latins Know How”).

Jerry, Horace and Madge finally clear up the whole misunderstanding, and Jerry tries to disrupt the wedding by tap dancing in the room above it. Beddini goes upstairs to avenge his rival. Jerry arrives and explains the situation to Dale, but it’s too late; she has already married Beddini. Meanwhile, Beddini learns the truth from Madge and Horace, and Bates arrives, dripping wet in a gondolier’s uniform, to tell them that Jerry and Dale are drifting out to sea in a driverless gondola.

As the others set out to rescue them, Jerry and Dale return to “Face the Music and Dance.” Madge and Horace clear the air and declare their (unconventional) love for each other (“Outside of That I Love You”). Bates admits that he impersonated the clergyman who performed Beddini and Dale’s wedding, meaning they were never legally married. Jerry proposes – again – and Dale accepts. Beddini agrees to design Dale’s wedding gown, and everyone celebrates (“Finale: Let’s Face the Music and Dance”).

DETAILS

The stage adaptation of Top Hat follows the movie very closely, with a few minor plot changes and several added songs. Here are the key differences, listed chronologically by their occurrence in the story.

Opening: The film begins with an extended sequence with virtually no sound; after enduring the pressure of remaining silent at the London Thackeray Club, Jerry finally breaks the tension with a percussive tap step. The stage version opens at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where Jerry leads the ensemble in a rousing version of Berlin’s hit song “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

Madge & Horace: In the stage version, the Hardwicks sing, serving as the musical’s “B-couple.” Madge opens the second act by leading the ensemble in “The Piccolino,” and later, she and Horace sing a comic duet called “Outside of That I Love You.”

Bates: Though Horace’s valet dons several disguises to shadow Dale in both the film and stage versions, his choice of costume differs. In the film, Bates disguises himself as a (male) tourist, a swimmer, a rumpled hotel guest and a gondolier. Onstage, he begins with dark glasses, then progresses to approximations of an “Italian” waiter, a Dowager Duchess, the hotel chef and, again, a gondolier. Of course, in both versions, he also pretends to be a clergyman.

Dale’s ruse: In the movie, Dale tries to catch Jerry at his own game by vamping it up and pretending that they had already met – under scandalous circumstances. In the stage show, she pretends to be married to a jealous and volatile boxer. In both cases, Jerry sees through Dale’s ruse, taking the game so far that she leaves, overwhelmed and more confused.

Beddini: The Italian dressmaker sings in the stage show as well. In the film, he warbles a quick aria a capella, but he never does a full number with the orchestra. Onstage, however, he sings while preparing for his wedding, in a comic strip routine called “Latins Know How.”

Gondola incident: In the film, Bates, disguised as a gondolier, accidentally takes a plunge into the canal. He later insults and Italian officer and is arrested for impersonating a gondolier. In the stage show, Bates’ plunge and arrest both take place offstage.

Finale: The film ends with “The Piccolino,” but the stage version concludes with three big numbers instead. First, Jerry and Dale, after exposing the truth, decide “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” Then Horace and Madge patch up their marriage… in their own way (“Outside of That I Love You”). Finally, after Bates reveals that Dale and Beddini never married, everyone celebrates again with a finale-worthy version of “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.”

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For more information about Top Hat and other great musicals by Irving Berlin, visit Concord Theatricals in the US or UK.