Alan Burkitt and Charlotte Gooch, stars of the recent West End run of the much-loved musical Top Hat, will return to play the lead roles when the show tours the UK later this year.
Gooch will star as Dale Tremont in the UK tour; Gooch took over the lead role of Tremont from leading lady Summer Strallen when the production ran in the West End. Her credits include Dirty Dancing at the Piccadilly Theatre and in the national tour, the UK tour of Grease and the German tour of Cats. Burkitt, whose credits include Singin’ in the Rain and 42nd Street at Chichester Festival Theatre, and We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, understudied the lead role of Jerry Travers as part of the original West End cast of Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre.
The touring cast of the the Irving Berlin’s musical will be joined by Clive Hayward as Horace Hardwick, Rebecca Thornhill as Madge Hardwick, Sebastien Torkia as Alberto Beddini and John Conroy as Bates. The cast also includes Lucy Ashenden, Thomas Audibert, Caroline Bateson, Sophie Camble, Matthew Caputo, Kristy Cullen, Paul Farrell, Ian Goss, Carys Gray, Alyn Hawke, Rebecca Hodge, Samuel Humphreys, Thomas Inge, Thomas-Lee Kidd, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, David McKechnie, John McManus, George Olney, Ben Palmer, Holly Rostron, Maria Ward, Amy West and Monique Young.
The production will begin a 47 week tour on 12 August at the New Wimbledon Theatre before visiting venues across the UK, finishing in Eastbourne in July 2015. Directed by Matthew White, Top Hat is choreographed by Bill Deamer, with design by Hildegard Bechtler, costume by Jon Morrell, lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Gareth Owen, musical supervision by Richard Balcombe and new orchestrations by Chris Walker. Top Hat is produced by Kenny Wax, with Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comlet.