A dazzling adventure into song and melody . . .
As grand opera and classical theatre are reinterpreted with new productions to keep it fresh and vibrant and to attract new audiences, so does the world of operetta and musical comedy, ... and in particular Top C's & Tiaras™. 40 years ago a rare phenomenon of entertainment programming took the world of popular music by storm and in 2024 is set to do so once again.
Star cast with celebrity guests
Top C's and Tiaras™ is not just the title of a show.
First and foremost Top C's and Tiaras™ is a brand which has provenance.
First and foremost Top C's and Tiaras™ is a brand which has provenance.
Top C's and Tiaras™ is a popular classical music brand with a rich heritage. Devised by Neil Anthony, and first broadcast on British television in 1983, Top C's and Tiaras™ was a trailblazer for the very lucrative market in classical music aimed at a mass audience.
The concept is deceptively simple. Tapping into the abundant canons of operetta and musical comedy, Top C's and Tiaras™ unashamedly presented classical music as glossy entertainment.
Consciously taking performances away from the theatre, the show(s) can be shot entirely on location for example in and around London, and at a lavish Downton Abbey-like stately home, as was the case in the original series. Audiences more used to the traditional and stuffy presentation of orchestral music, are instead treated to opera stars recorded 'as live' in both intimate and formal settings in and around numerous locations and to the delight of our audiences.
The quality of the music often quick-paced and with high on-screen impact, orchestrations and arrangements more showbiz than traditional classical as demonstrated in the original series by the hugely talented Burt Rhodes and Harry Rabinowitz. The overall presentation was unlike anything seen before on television.
Top C's and Tiaras™, as both a brand and a proven format, is now being offered for licensing on a worldwide basis. Lending itself to event cinema, streaming and broadcast television, and theatrical staging, the brand is ready to tap into the large international audience for popular classical music. A wonderful vehicle for the very best of performing talent, but one which does not depend on any individual star, and which can continuously reinvent itself to suit changing tastes and technological possibilities.
The concept is deceptively simple. Tapping into the abundant canons of operetta and musical comedy, Top C's and Tiaras™ unashamedly presented classical music as glossy entertainment.
Consciously taking performances away from the theatre, the show(s) can be shot entirely on location for example in and around London, and at a lavish Downton Abbey-like stately home, as was the case in the original series. Audiences more used to the traditional and stuffy presentation of orchestral music, are instead treated to opera stars recorded 'as live' in both intimate and formal settings in and around numerous locations and to the delight of our audiences.
The quality of the music often quick-paced and with high on-screen impact, orchestrations and arrangements more showbiz than traditional classical as demonstrated in the original series by the hugely talented Burt Rhodes and Harry Rabinowitz. The overall presentation was unlike anything seen before on television.
Top C's and Tiaras™, as both a brand and a proven format, is now being offered for licensing on a worldwide basis. Lending itself to event cinema, streaming and broadcast television, and theatrical staging, the brand is ready to tap into the large international audience for popular classical music. A wonderful vehicle for the very best of performing talent, but one which does not depend on any individual star, and which can continuously reinvent itself to suit changing tastes and technological possibilities.
Neil Anthony, who has been instrumental in the conception and development of Top C's and Tiaras™, is available to advise on the many opportunities that exist to exploit this remarkable brand.
Top Cs won the channel’s most enthusiastic response by phone and letter for its stylish rediscovery of the middle ground of operetta." |
Take your seat
The brand, IP and trademark of Top Cs & Tiaras™ is the property of The Bright Thoughts Company Ltd.
Marilyn Hill Smith and Peter Morrison now retired from performance are the ideal choice to endorse and perhaps introduce Top Cs once more to existing audiences and to a new generation. Top C's & Tiaras has the potential of being the 'Strictly Come Dancing' of the opera world! |
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Marilyn Hill SmithEven 40 years after TOP C’s was first shown I still meet people who adored the series, who ask why it has never been reshown, and why, despite its massive success and popularity, there has never been another such programme, before or since. There is clearly a vast audience of lovers of light music and operetta, who remain neglected these days, and the unique format of this series, with its informality, but splendidly researched and presented music, would perfectly fill this gap, and inevitably drawing new devotees to the programme.
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Peter MorrisonHaving appeared in very many TV shows, the combination of stand-up performance with a feature song for each singer and then the informal rehearsal elements, plus the elegance of Wrotham Park, not like anything I've ever done before or since. A remake of Top C's is 'a must', audiences are missing out on a huge amount of enjoyment and fun!
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On location
Top C's & Tiaras™ - A winning formula of both informality and intimacy, requiring only the audience at home. Music in performance yet liberated from the proscenium arch, the concert hall and the conventions of studio.
Champagne and waltzes, romantic uniforms and glittering ballgowns; of Offenbach and Johann Strauss, Suppè and Messager, and Lehár, Coward and Romberg, Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe. The joys of dancing medleys, gypsy camps, comedy and sometimes risqué, military themes, romance and unrequited love, mad dogs and Englishmen, and more. Each song recorded as live. |
Top Cs and Tiaras pioneered a new, relaxed, unstuffy approach ... no tiaras, there is not much evening dress, no old-fashioned pomp and hand-clasping - and no audience ... they let their hair down together, not in a studio or theatre but a country house, singing around a piano to one another or wandering through the gilded rooms or the grounds. |
The Top Cs Repertoire
Titles
2,700
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Showlist
241
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Composers
83
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Brands
1
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Top C's Encore is our top choice for a variety of reasons. The show was ground-breaking, very much ahead of its time. It was huge fun to drill-down into the operetta and musical comedy repertoire, not only for the researchers and the production team but also for the musicians and the artists.
We first developed the concept and the modular format for another TV company but when Channel 4 said they needed a popular music entertainment show for a peak viewing slot to get the ratings up, Top Cs was the obvious choice. It didn't fail to deliver. Being the most viewer-requested show on Channel 4 at that time, they chose not to go to another series. Evidently, it wasn't edgy enough. Too mainstream for C4. When recording the main series, we simultaneously recorded on digital sound for secondary marketing purposes (CDs, videos etc.). At that time the MU and PRS rights and residuals made it cost-prohibitive. A few years later, by the time the unions had released their 'death-grip' we had moved on to other projects. Top C's never reached its wider audience nor fulfilled its greater potential. Yet the format is as fresh today and there has been nothing like it since! |