Starlight Express - Troubadour

Update: I've moved our tickets from the back of the First Class Carriages to Row N. Hopefully this gives the kids a better view...and also saves me a fair bit of money as we were refunded the difference in ticket price.

Looking forward to seeing it. Saw it about 6 times at the Apollo when I was young, and then a couple of times since when it toured.

Sorry if this has been discussed and I've missed it, but have any of you been to the Starlight Express themed menu restaurant at/near the theatre (Studio Five)? Any good? Also, any other good restaurants you can book pre show? Thanks

The couple sat next to me when I was there said they had just eaten in the theatre restaurant and said it was excellent and were raving about it.

Finally caught the show last night.

As a former cast member of the London production (several years with the show) 'Starlight' is obviously close to my heart. I went in hoping for the best, knowing that much of the show had been altered and, having a wholly new creative team, would likely not resemble the long-running production from the Apollo Victoria.

What I didn't expect was this absolute hatchet job that made it unrecognizable from any previous iteration of the show.

I cannot understand the removal of nearly all of the characters (with the exception of a few) in favour of new characters with no development, no personalities to speak of, and names/concepts that are mostly indecipherable. The costumes were silly and looked impossible to move in, much less skate in. This might be why the choreography was one of the weaker elements of the show....and I use the term 'choreography' lightly. It pretty much came down to arm movements while doing 'step-touch, step-touch' from the knees down. I guess the lack of danger or actual exertion of energy will ensure the cast can stay mostly intact for 8 shows a week. But while I think there is less risk of injury here, the risk of boredom setting in is far higher.

Performances were ok given what the cast had to work with.

Of the many revisions, the score suffers the most with too many songs from the original either cut or replaced with material that ranges from substandard to just plain awful. "A Lotta Locomation" dropped in favour of a dud like "I Am Me" is one shining example. The change from Poppa to Mama (which started in Germany) is an ill-conceived move. Vocally it is quite dull. Instead of a male voice reaching for the rafters, you have a female voice forced to sing in the basement. It doesn't work, especially during the 'Starlight Sequence' which, though beautifully lit, had absolutely no emotional pull whatsover. Done/sung correctly, there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house.

Design-wise it was ok, but what was with the planets popping and out? It looked silly and ill-concieved. The space itself is well used but could use crowd control at the interval. It was a scrum trying to move from the toilets back to the FOH with folks barely being able to move.

I cannot fathom how or why, Arlene Phillips, who remained with this show as dramaturg and was the backbone of the original production, didn't find a way to restore a bit of heart and soul into the show. It was a crime to have her in the building and not allow her to at least co-create some of her original choreography or, for that matter, direction and character development which she oversaw during the 18 years of the original run and other International productions.

Two stars from me. It had a decent opening but after "Rolling Stock" it was downhill from there.

I mean, it’s nowhere near the original show any more. The costumes are more like the originals but not as good. However, the spectacle of the theatre is an experience in itself, although lessened since 2018 IMHO.

I also finally made it to see this last night. It was my first trip to this theatre and I thought it was interesting and ironic to attend a theatre converted from a TV studio, when years ago so many TV studios were converted from theatres. It's also weirdly pleasing to know I'm watching a show about trains in the same spot where they once filmed the sitcom On the Buses.

As for the show itself - is it possible to both dislike and enjoy something simultaneously?!

The show has had its heart - and what little depth it ever had - leeched away. The set feels underwhelming. The orchestrations sounded less inventive and dynamic than they once were - Rolling Stock especially was very underpowered. The characters feel blander and less distinctive. The races are shockingly slow, and totally undynamic. There feels like a lack of focus on them being trains - it feels like a lot of abstract colourful space-age robots. Rusty's journey has less jeopardy - he doesn't even need convincing to race on behalf of Momma, so that sense of a personal journey is much diminished. The commenting on him 'whistling' was a step too far even for a liberal lefty like me (it never even occurred to me before that the whistling could be equated with wolf whistling - it's just a romantic symbol of him being a steam train). Act 2 picked up somewhat but Act 1 just felt really flat to me. Having Control as part of the on-stage action really diluted a lot of the magic and often fell flat. I still don't buy Electra singing One Rock and Roll Too Many - the three main engines have distinctive musical vernacular and this is a Greaseball-style song through and through, not an Electra one.

And yet, and yet, I came out happy. I don't know why. The score is still incredibly ear worm-y and, although neither I've Got Me or I Do are as dramatically apposite as songs they've replaced, they're still both catchy as anything. The sparkly lights during Starlight Sequence were weirdly affecting. And the whole show was a bit like a puppy coming up and licking you - just sort of impossible to dislike. As someone who grew up on the OLC and has followed the show at an affectionate distance ever since, I do enjoy the modular nature of the score - the way it's built of a set of bricks that change position and yet still make pleasing shapes. I find it weird when we suddenly get a couple of minutes of between song recitative that is exactly the same as it was in 1984, amidst lots of stuff that's been reworked, but I love tracing the patterns in it - so I hope we get a new full recording.

I know I'm not the target audience. Maybe children will find it more satisfyingly sensory than I did. I feel like it needed yet more care, and a whole lot more physical presence, as well as all the digital and lighting stuff, to make it a truly immersive experience. It needs to be meatier, tougher, faster and louder. But somehow I still enjoyed it. Go figure.

Quite! The “it’s all just a kids imagination” is used to cover up any plot holes or other criticisms, but lots of work went into the original show. It would never have run for 18 years if this has been the version that opened in 1984. This version is lazy in almost all respects (I’m sure it’s still a very tough show to perform, but the creatives took their foot off the peddle, or whatever the train equivalent is).

Edited to add: ALW is so lucky to have had the very best creatives working on his original productions. It’s only their absolutely incredible work that has allowed him to water down the quality over the years and get away with it (see Phantom).

Visited tonight for nostalgic reasons… thought the show looked fab and the ensemble numbers really delivered. Liked the upgrading of Control but found the changes which I presume where about removing the sexism and gender stereotypes a bit pointless given virtually all the engines remained guys and the coaches were generally extreme femme. Bizarre that lyrics to make up my heart unchanged eg ‘ You'd think two lovers would be twice the fun but its tearing me apart…’- hardly speaks of female empowerment, and not helped by a stand in with poor vocals. As others said races dragged. Can’t stand the new song ‘i am me’. Still love some of the music (eg freight) which at times sounds almost religious anthemic! Second act opening really punchy and energy then stayed up which was great. Chap playing hydrogen quality and liked the hydrogen storyline and motif. I am sure if I was a kid again I’d have loved it. Amazed how packed show was- adults in the main. Sat L2 for 29 quid- great seat.

Over several years played various roles. Mainly Rhurgold (German Train) and Turnov (Russian Train) while covering Electra and Dustin.

If you saw the show in the mid to late 90's it is possible you saw me. :-)

The joys of being a teacher…