You always know you’re in safe hands with a production originally forged at the Chichester Festival Theatre and I am beyond trilled to report that Top Hat is another phenomenal production. Based on the 1935 film, this production could feel ‘old hat’ rather than ‘Top Hat,’ but with a pacey storyline, a hugely gifted cast and ensemble, slick dance routines and slapstick that the Palladium Panto would be jealous of, the latest iteration of this classic musical tap danced straight into my heart and refused to budge.

The opening number of Putting on the Ritz really showed off the ensemble’s tight, energetic dancing prowess, and this remains throughout the entire performance. The tap dancing especially, had me spellbound; there’s nothing quite like a perfect line of tap dancers tapping in precise unison! The ensemble singing is also gorgeous, bringing the classic tunes to life and breathing fresh life into them.

The main drive behind this fantastic production, however, is the lead cast, and what a cast they are. Alex Gibson-Giorgio as Alberto Beddini is a joyous, riot of a character; his rendition of Latins Know How had the audience howling with laughter. His characterisation of the hapless Italian was endearing, hilarious and he delivered some of the wittiest puns of the show with excellent comic chops and timing. In an equally hilarious portrayal, James Clyde as Bates is a sight to behold. This was a masterclass in comedy, his costume changes, his accents, his ability to hold the audience in the palm of his hand…simply wonderful.

Only appearing in Act Two might mean that a character leaves less of an impact on an audience, but this is not the case with Sally Ann Triplett’s portrayal of Madge Hardwick. She has some of the best one liners in the show, delivered with devastating, and hilarious precision and poise. She only needed to glance towards the audience to have us burst into laughter. She commanded the stage and was truly the matriarch of the Top Hat world. She is teamed with James Hume as poor, long suffering, Horace Hardwick. Horace seems to end up with the worst end of the stick every time and Hume gives us a performance which is so endearing but also full of comic genius. His hiding in the bridal suite during Wild About You and his incident with the steak on his black eye were exceptionally executed, proving slapstick, when executed well, still has a place in modern theatres.

Finally, Amara Okereke and Phillip Attmore bring Dale Tremont and Jerry Travers to life, respectively. Amara shows us a Dale who is fierce, strong, independent, yet childlike and eager in her discovery of love with Jerry. Her dancing is stunning, her voice like velvet. She holds her own against the love protestations of both Jerry and Alberto and brings a fresh side to a character who pirouetted across the silver screen in 1935. I particularly enjoyed her heartfelt, stunningly sung rendition of Better Luck Next Time.

Phillip Attmore brings a zest and charm to Jerry Travers which is truly joyous to behold. His dancing is so clean and precise, and he captures the essence of the original Jerry, Fred Astaire, whilst bringing his own evident charm and qualities to the role. He leans into the classic film but never makes you feel that he is plagiarising the original, he brings a voice, performance and dancing which is all his own. Whether in tap shoes or not, he is a joy to watch.

This is a slick, well designed production which doesn’t stop for even a moment and, as such, makes it a truly captivating watch. It’s revival productions like this with beautiful set, gorgeous costuming and an ensemble and cast to die for that prove that, even almost 100 years later, musicals like Top Hat still have a very well deserved place in our theatres and in our hearts.

& Juliet is a delightful, riotous show that takes the ending of Romeo and Juliet and asks, ‘what if Juliet didn’t kill herself? What if she lived on..?’ The show is full of class hits penned by Maz Martin, Swedish record producer and songwriter, and what a backlist of hits he has!

One of those hits is Katy Perry’s Roar and I was lucky to be invited to take part in a dance class to learn (just a smidgen) of that dance. The class was brilliant; led by Andilé Mabhena (who plays Augustine, swing, is a member of the dance team and 1^st cover Francois) and Michael Nelson (who plays Henry, 1^st cover Shakespeare and Lance). Their patience and sheer dance ability was so impressive, and it really gave us an insight into the show and how incredibly difficult the choreography must be to learn. We only learned a few bars and I was exhausted! At the end of the class, they showed us how it should be done, and it was a delight to then see that replicated in the show.

I am a bit of a stickler for Shakespeare, I adore his plays and the impact that they still have to this day, so I had slight trepidation about & Juliet. I must say though, from the opening bars of Larger than Life, I was absolutely hooked. We are met with a stage preparing for a performance of the just finished, Romeo and Juliet, with the players still painting the set and adding pieces of set. Shakespeare reveals the ending of the show, the death of the star-crossed lovers, but Anne Hathaway intervenes and takes us, instead, on an altogether different path, one where Juliet decides to live and finds her own destiny in Paris. I adored the ‘play within a play’ aspect of this, very reminiscent of Shakespeare’s other productions. The constant asides and breaking of the fourth wall are immersive and shows us Anne and Will shaping the show in real time. Their arguments and plot changes are shown to us in real time, and the consequences of two very different opinions on how the show should play out, in turn affect and move the characters on stage.

It would be easy for this to be a complete pastiche of Romeo and Juliet and to disrespect the original source, but it manages to perfectly balance the modern day whilst being entirely respectful to Shakespeare and his incredible genius. It was also nice to see an interpretation of Anne’s story and her feelings on him never being there with her and their two daughters. There’s a momentary reference to loss of son, Hamnet, and the ‘second best bed’ is mentioned a few times! All in all, there’s enough nods to the originator to be respectful but to also bring the plot straight into the 21^st century.

Cast and ensemble are phenomenal; the sheer energy and skill of the chorus is mind blowing! Non-stop, high octane and just full of joy, it’s definitely a sight to behold. The cast does have its star casting in Jay McGuiness from The Wanted and Dr. Ranj Singh as Lance. Jay McGuiness was a cheeky, delightful Shakespeare and obviously has the pipes for the pop soundtrack! Dr. Ranj was an hilarious Lance; he more than held his own amongst the cast despite this being his debut in a musical theatre production. I was impressed with his singing and his involvement in Strictly Come Dancing clearly paid off too!

Recent graduate, Geradine Sacdalan leads the cast as Juliet, her dancing and singing prowess would suggest years of being the leading lady, her performance is assured and confident. I also adored Lara Denning as Anne, her rendition of That’s the Way It Is was breathtaking, her portrayal of Anne in turns hilarious and heartbreaking. Sandra Marvin as Angelique, Juliet’s nurse, manages to capture the essence of the Nurse in the original play whilst making her a fully fledged character with her own identity and voice (and what a powerhouse voice it is!). Her scenes with Lance were brilliant, especially their fabulous rendition of Teenage Dream/Break Free.

Jordan Broatch is a wonderful May, Juliet’s friend and confidante. May is the perfect character to be in a show based on an original Shakespeare play when you consider how often his plays contained characters who subverted gender norms. The quote from Anne perfectly sums this up, “Really? This from a man who’s built a career on men dressing as women, women dressing as men; the man whose name is synonymous with gender-bending. Do you really think it’s up to you to question May’s gender or sexual preference, or do you think maybe it’s May’s personal choice and really none of our business?” Jordan’s performance is so endearing, and they portray May’s struggle perfectly. Their scenes with Kyle Cox as François are beautiful, both performers truly capture the essence of the burgeoning romance with ease. Kyle is a suitably awkward François, blossoming from shy youngest son of Lance to claiming his place beside May.  Finally, Benjamin Jackson Walker as Romeo is comedy gold; his return from death is iconic with him descending on his own name and although this show is all about Juliet, I would have loved a bit more stage time from this hilarious performer with a great voice to boot!

Don’t ‘get thee to a nunnery,’ get yourselves to the Wales Millennium Centre and make sure you catch & Juliet’s final tour stop. It’s joyous energy, phenomenal vocals and brilliant cast really deserve to go out with a bang at their final location of their tour. Matched with themes of empowerment, no matter what or who you are, this is a must-see production, so don’t miss out, grab yourself a ticket to & Juliet today.