Natasha Blair sees the latest version of this Andrew Lloyd Webber classic at the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley Park, a vast state-of-the art venue with cutting-edge production facilities
In time for 2025, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest incarnation of his hit musical Starlight Express is the type of musical that will immediately put you in the party mood. With loud music, singing and roller skating, this fantasy story takes you from a child’s bedroom into the world of trains. There’s even a love story thrown in with Rusty, the steam train competing against newer modernised trains while falling in love with Pearl, a first-class carriage.
In this updated version a young child, female, is put to bed by her mother, and then a child’s train set magically comes to life and the engines race against each other to become the fastest in the world. Rusty, the steam train has little hope of winning until he is inspired by the legend of the ‘Starlight Express’.
The cutting-edge production and breathtaking performances make it a high-speed spectacle. The audience are split into two with a racetrack in between so the roller skaters have ample space to show off their talent. The audience are kept enthralled with the skaters in the form of carriages, twirling on the stage and sometimes going backwards down the ramps. A barrier comes up to protect both the skaters and audience.
The story was originally inspired by the Thomas the Tank Engine stories with a touch of Cinderella. I know now-a-days everything has to be politically correct but surely trains are still very much a male domain? Why they have chosen a little girl dressed in an unflattering boiler suit to play the child is beyond me!
The original version of Starlight Express opened at the New Victoria now the Apollo Theatre in London in March 1984, opening on Broadway in 1985, receiving Seven Tony Award nominations.
The Troubadour Theatre in Wembley Park is a vast state-of-the art venue with cutting-edge production facilities, a large bar, and its own restaurant, Studio Five. Sited near the Wembley Designer Outlet, it’s definitely worth coming a little earlier to look around and get some bargains, and where there’s also an additional choice of eateries.
Buy your tickets through this link
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