I went to see Starlight Express when it first opened in 2024, at a purpose built venue in Wembley Park. But I left at the interval.
Not because I wasn’t enjoying it but because I was mentally overstimulated from sitting so close to the action.
I had the best time and didn’t care that I had to leave because I had got more than my monies worth from the experience I had had. And I knew I would go back to see it again – which I did this week (strategically sitting further back in the auditorium).
Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s 1984 musical Starlight Express ran for eighteen years at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre from 1984-2002 (now home to Wicked the Musical).
The 1988 German production is still running today and holds the Guinness World Record for most visitors to a musical in a single theatre.
From the moment you walk in to the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, you are immersed in a world of bright lights and colour. The auditorium is made up of sections with race track running all around the theatre – meaning no one misses out on seeing the rollerskating action close up.
Starlight Express tells the story of a child, playing with a train set before bed, initiating a dream of trains racing against each other to see who is the best. Can the likes of an old steam engine match the speed of the new electric trains? Let’s find out!
Old steam engine Rusty is bullied for not living up to modern diesel and electric engine standards but wants to impress first-class observation car, Pearl. Along come dining car Dinah, smoking car Ashley, buffet car Buffy and a freight train who chant a rather hilarious ‘freight, is great’.
Together they get in to teams and race against each other (although not always fairly). By praying to the mythical ‘Starlight Express’ Rusty powers on through to the end of the match. But can he win against the other trains and will he earn the love of Pearl?
If you replaced the trains with cats it’s basically the same musical. Starlight Express has a few good songs ‘Rolling Stock’, ‘The Light at the End of the Tunnel and of course the title song ‘Starlight Express’ but there is only one reason to go to this show – the roller skating.
There is (still) nothing like it in the world, which is why it continues to thrive around the world. It’s a spectacle that deserves to be seen. Just don’t try too hard to figure out what’s going on.
★★★★
West End Wilma
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