Top Hat at Théâtre du Châtelet: tap-dancing, romance and old-school Broadway — photos & reviews

From April 15 to May 3, 2026, the Théâtre du Châtelet welcomes Top Hat,Irving Berlin's iconic musical based on the famous 1935 film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. For the first time, one of the pillars of the Great American Songbook enters the repertoire of the Parisian theater, joining Gershwin, Kern and Rodgers already celebrated on this same stage. With its tap dance numbers, brilliant score and glamorous world, Top Hat takes audiences back to the golden age of Broadway, between misunderstandings and dazzling ballets.

In London, Jerry Travers, a charismatic American dancer, inadvertently wakes up his downstairs neighbor by practicing tap dance in her hotel room. When Dale Tremont goes upstairs to complain about the commotion, it's love at first sight. A series of misunderstandings ensues, and the characters end up in Venice for a series of sentimental adventures as light as they are choreographed. Conceived in the tradition of classic musicals, Top Hat alternates sparkling dialogue, cult songs such as Cheek to Cheek, and dance numbers in stylized settings reminiscent of 1930s Hollywood cinema.

This production will appeal to fans of classic musicals, those nostalgic for the golden age of Hollywood cinema, and family audiences looking for elegant, accessible entertainment. Fans of tap, American standards and stylized romantic universes will find a proposal faithful to the spirit of Broadway.

• To be read
• This week's top picks in Paris and Île-de-France, April 20–26, 2026

With Top Hat, the Théâtre du Châtelet celebrates the timeless elegance of the American musical, with its lively tap dancing, technicolor romance and unforgettable scores. Running from April 15 to May 3, 2026, this revisited classic offers a joyous, refined plunge into the world ofIrving Berlin, in a tribute to Broadway that's as spectacular as it is nostalgic.

Our take:

Smooth as butter, a top hat firmly in place on a night racing ahead: Top Hat swinges the Théâtre du Châtelet with a Broadway-brio that's hard to ignore. From curtain rise — a first volley of dance and skyscraper backdrops — the tone is set and it doesn’t waver for almost two and a half hours.

Adapted from the 1935 cult film by Mark Sandrich featuring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, this show from Matthew White and Howard Jacques adds about ten Irving Berlin numbers without losing the thin thread of a plot built on neighborhood farce, quips and a thwarted romance that even ventures to Venice. The story stays light, almost a pretext, but is carried by real theatrical vitality that leaves space for the sung-and-danced sequences.

First stop in London: Nicole-Lily Baisden (Dale, magnetic) and Philip Attmore (Jerry), a harmonious and elegant duo, master the triple threat of singing-dancing-steps to perfection. Then off to Venice, where the game broadens: the comic tempo runs wild, supporting players steal the show — a special nod to the Madge–Horace pair, irresistible in verbal sparring, to the Italian dressmaker desiringly caricatured by Beddini, the perfect spoof of a Latin lover, and to the majordomo Bates, deliciously prickly.

The whole, helmed by Kathleen Marshall, rests on a rotating Art Deco set — an entrance hall, a hotel room, spaces that glide and rearrange as the story unfolds — and on flamboyant costumes that whirl to the beat of conductor Chris Walker’s orchestra. The energy is constant, very Broadway in full swing, kept alive by a supremely versatile company.

One practical caveat: for non-English-speaking audiences, the supertitles, at times mispositioned (too low or too high depending on seats), can become hard to follow and hinder understanding. But on stage, the charm is always perfectly legible.

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