Starlight Express - Troubadour

It’s opening Spring 24.

I can't bear it lol *facepalm emoji* !!

Thank God CHF remains persona non grata. 

(Though I'd happily see JLG as Rusty lol).

Are the heathers (ie younger) crowd typically badly behaved? I’ve often seen far worse behaviour from older crowds / jukebox shows rather than Heathers…

Exactly. Am a bit tired of the constant ragging of younger fans here and yet I have not once ever seen a younger person ever behave badly at anything.

I have seen Six countless times and not seen a single second of bad behaviour before, during or after the show.

I think the only bad behaviour I have even seen at any of these 'teen' friendly shows was at Mean Girls and that was by the parents!

Whereas I have experienced shows being frankly ruined by overly excitable/rowdy superfans determined to draw focus onto themselves. This has happened several times at Wicked, once when I was unknowingly seeing a cast change performance. Leaving the theatre with arms full of gifts (presumably for the performers) rushing to the stage door, talking about whether “he noticed me”. Literal banshee screaming over the end of “Defying Gravity” and “The Wizard and I”. Very conspicuous and over the top fake laughter when “their” performer has a comic line they’ve heard hundreds of times before. It’s incredibly distracting. Oh and they were in the front few rows, obviously.

I’ve witnessed similar behaviour at Heathers.

There is a special kind of entitlement from a very niche collection of hardcore fans of certain shows popular with younger audiences, who feel they are special or more worthy of enjoying the show than everyone else. They are possessive of it. When Kerry Ellis was in Wicked, I was in the day seat queue and saw some jaw dropping behaviour.

No love or money would get me to attend a performance of “Six” or similar teen-targeted shows as I have personally experienced first hand how appalling that “certain kind” of audience can be. “Yaaaas queen” indeed.

I’ve also seen appalling behaviour from adult audiences at loads of shows, drunkenness, mobile phones etc - but for me nothing quite ruins an evening than it being turned into an impromptu teeny bopper pop concert against the will of 95% of the audience.

Well I've seen it 14 times and never seen anything like what you've mentioned, in fact I don't think I have ever seen what you're talking about.

Going again on the 8th, so I'll keep you posted as I have probably just jinxed myself

I guess like all these things it's nuanced.

I certainly don't see any merit in young people vs old people for bad audience behaviour comparisons/competitions.

Much like the proverbial football hooligans I don't doubt that most people (of all ages) are fine - but it only takes a few to dent an experience.

Most young people are perfectly well behaved I feel sure. (And don't even get me started on kids being totally immersed and quiet and parents interrupting them to ask things and shove sugar in their faces - seen many times at Frozen!) But some, at certain shows, most def do exhibit the classic fangirl behaviour described. Whooping, screaming, stage door antics, hysterical laughing ahead of the line, competitive fandom etc etc etc. Seen Six twice and was like that both times - literally felt like I didn't belong there. The Heathers ones are notorious for antics (also experienced the one time I went - although it didn't bother me much as thought was a terrible musical anyway and it was in the glorious (call me antisocial!) socially distanced seating era). And most of us have experienced the Wicked nuttiness.

But yes, I don't doubt for a second that most are well behaved. But like you only need 2ish% of audience to be misbehaving hen dos to ruin The Bodyguard, the same is true of the fangirls.

Completely agree that watching a show, at any age, should mean watching it sat in your seat without causing a disturbance and letting yourself be fully immersed. What could be better than literally forgetting the audience is there because you are SO connected with what's on stage?

As for ALW being desperate to be "down with the kids" this is massively overstated. He wrote one musical (School of Rock) which WAS a surprise hit with all generations after a string of less successful stuff. So it's hardly surprising that he'd try to do another show with cross age appeal. His involvement in the book is greater or lesser for all shows. Evita was totally driven by Tim Rice, Beautiful Game by Ben Elton. And people seem to forget that Cinderella was like this. The book (at least for London) was 100% Emerald Fennell's. I know his face was EVERYWHERE when it came to promoting the show (helped of course by Covid chaos) but his creative involvement was writing the music for Emerald's book. And with her credentials and her age why would be not, at his age, trust that she had written a decent story? If people didn't like the story (I did FWIW) then fair enough. But this needs to be taken to Emerald's door, not ALW's.

That said, Starlight was always a show for all generations so I remain worried as to what they might do to appeal to youth today. Well, maybe worried is the wrong word. Inquisitive/curious/mildly concerned. Then again I think things can't stand still and I'd be a hypocrite to praise Lloyd's Evita and Sheffield Saigon so much and not be open to a new version of Starlight. And Heaven knows Starlight fans such as myself are used to change!

Yeah course he did - he had 100% confidence in her book. 

Not much point being in that industry unless you have total confidence in what you write. He's hardly gonna go on telly and say "well it's probs a bit s*** but come and see it if you want!"

He said that line about Carrie once and as is the risk for anyone in the spotlight it got repeated ad infinitum. 

The Phantom DJ-ing and TikTock stuff was cringe but who doesn't have a father or grandfather that's embarrassed them? And Heaven knows everyone's mind was affected to some degree by the coronavirus. 

ALW always gets very enthusiastic about his new projects, and new stars.

And then swiftly dumps them when his show flops. Likewise the creatives.

I don't see how aligning with Six, Strictly, and Drag Race computes with the Daily Mail.  The Daily Mail who howled about 'Go woke, go broke' over the comparative failure of 'Cinderella' and other shows.  Just don't tell The Mail that, without fuss or fanfare, ALW's 'Wizard Of Oz' in the Curve production has a Black central family on the Palladium stage.  When does that ever happen in a musical that doesn't revolve around a story set in the music industry or a gospel church?

Only trying to make 'Rum Tum Tugger' more 'street' fits your theory that updating is forced.  Elsewhere he had the most ridiculously improbable number 1 hit record with 'Don't Cry For Me, Argentina', and previously the JCS album did nothing much in the UK but (I think) beat The Beatles 'Sgt Pepper's' sales (from 3 years before) in the USA.  Yet when trying to write hits for 'Starlight Express' none of them charted.  It's been a crazily mixed relationship with popular culture, but the only musical theatre composer to consistently have hit records - no less than 5 songs from 'Evita' hitting the UK Top 40.