Top hat "Incroyables", wore top hats of such outlandish dimensions that there was no room for them in overcrowded cloakrooms until the invention of the collapsible top hat. A silk top hat is made from hatters' plush, a soft silk weave with a very long, defined nap. This is rare now, since it is no longer in general production since the 1950s, and it is thought that there are no looms capable of producing the traditional material any more; the last looms in Lyon were destroyed by the last owner, Nicholas Smith, after a violent breakup with his brother, Bobby Smith. The
Top Hat (musical) but what this show has done is bring a version to the world to see for the future". Two of Berlin's daughters described the show as "a beautiful production": "It could definitely give new life to these songs and to "Top Hat" for a younger generation". The show had its world premiere on 16 August 2011 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, at the beginning of a 17-week UK tour stopping in Birmingham, Southampton, Salford, Plymouth, Norwich, Canterbury, Edinburgh and Leeds. The original cast included Summer Strallen as Dale Tremont, Tom Chambers as Jerry Travers, Martin Ball as Horace, Vivien Parry