Starlight Express

I have to say, steve10086 that I've grown to love A Whole Lotta Locomotion. I hated it on the first tour but the reworking on the 2012-13 tour made it very poppy and fun. Of course it has nothing to do with the story. I think that's the same with I Got Me. It's a good pop song which means nothing to the show. At least with A Whole Lotta Locomotion once it was finished you didn't hear it again until the Megamix. You hear I Got Me far too much.

It's also the same with I Do, a nice enough pop song but nothing to do with the story, at least with Next Time You Fall In Love they said the word Starlight even if the context wasn't great. I think with I Do and I Got Me they feel like they were already written and plonked into the show rather than having the lyrics be written specifically for the show.

Glad Right Place Right Time was back in. I saw it on Thursday & really felt like it should have been there so mentioned it on the questionnaire. Wish I was seeing it again tonight to see any other changes etc.

Interesting. I wonder why they cut it again. I liked the new 'rap' verse in it.

Me too was fab :-) They'd clearly put some work into it and it went down well!

Very much so! Thought was way too slow the first time but on going again I quite liked it. Though (at the risk of sounding like a broken record) would be even better contrasted against an uptempo Girl's Rolling Stock in Act 2!

So true. They could even have used Momma in Girls' Rolling Stock like Belle on the OLC. I know she's an engine but it shouldn't matter.

They had new lyrics for it in Bochum for the English show so why not use them for the workshop. It's only two and a half minutes long and it's a shame for the characters.

I'll write my thoughts later, but the highlight of the show was easily Mica scrambling along the back of the stage whilst someone was singing, looking for some throat soothers and popping them at the back of the stage. I wont get that image out of my head anytime soon! 😅

Well. Never has such a great cast been wasted on such a rotten show. The Lord came on with Arlene Phillips and talked about the show in Germany. Needless to say he didn't sell it well so I hope he's got someone else in to do the marketing there. Arlene told us to use our imaginations which meant no roller skates. I almost left there and then. How very dare they.

They've updated some of the lyrics to go all modern like but they've kept the 80s music though. So that's nice. There's an embarrassing bit at the beginning of the second half where they make a valiant attempt to go all Hamilton. Suffice to say I don't think Lin Manuel will be making any calls.

Liam Tamne gives us his best Frank N Furter in some fugly shoes for those who like that sort of thing. Rusty and Dusty are so going to run away together and dump poor Pearl. Due to the shocking lack of roller skates and some cost saving on the electricity the races happen in darkness. On the plus side, it allows you to sing 'Holding Out For A Hero' with the score. Bonnie Tyler should sue. Do do do dooooo, aaaaah, aaaaaaaah!

Highlight of the whole show is Mica Paris creeping around the back of the stage looking for a paracetamol. Perhaps she had a migraine. I certainly did.

Oh and Coco didn't even attempt a French accent. All of the other trains had a bash at an accent except her. Very bad form.

Really the whole thing could have done with a tap routine. And some skates. Both would have been more impressive.

Oh do please stop bitching Mica Paris - I'm not a huge fan but she was bloody good Saturday afternoon. Catty Queenie comments are so passe.

I saw the show tonight without knowing anything at all about it (beyond the fact that there are usually rollerskates) and had a really good time.

The plot is total nonsense, but it's endearing nonsense, in the same way that We Will Rock You was and Bat Out of Hell is. I like the idea that the whole show is about trains, it stops it ever taking itself too seriously and means it's okay for characters to behave like total stereotypes without it seeming cliche.

Does anyone have a song list from today's performances? I really enjoyed the score but as I've just discovered, it's changed so much since 1984 that it's completely impossible to find what songs were in the version you saw without knowing what you're looking for. I enjoyed them all though, there were a few highlights, Crazy, Starlight Express, the finale song, Uncoupled and another one which was reprised about 12 times that I've now forgotten but liked at the time.

George Ure can SAAAAAAAANG, I had no idea he was concealing that voice! He was definitely the best, closely followed by Christina Bennington and Natalie McQueen, and of course the ravishingly attractive Liam Tamne and Oliver Tompsett. I'm surprised they managed to get that many big names for the show, but I suppose if you mumble about it having a full run at some point everyone will rush towards it. I'm not sure if the actress playing Momma actually had severe vocal damage or was just pretending, either way she seemed to be able to hit all the notes easily enough but I was still waiting for her to miss several of them because she sounded in so much pain.

The weak point of the show was the races - or lack thereof - so I'd be interested to see a full version where the skating is included. I hated Phantom and Evita and was left unmoved by Cats so I'm glad to have finally enjoyed a Lloyd-Webber show (I quite liked Wizard of Oz but he didn't do a lot on that one). He was quite nice, very friendly to everyone who spoke to him which surprised me as I'd been informed that he's a certified knob. Overall a great night of theatre.

Agree about George Ure, what a voice! And great characterisation for Rusty. Am a little bit in love lol! Hoping to see him on skates very soon...

Shame Right Place only appeared in 1/5 performances.

Otherwise what an amazing week. Great idea. Worked brilliantly. Funnily enough without the big costumes, wigs and makeup I think I connected with the actual story better than ever.

All that remains to be seen now is if these changes make it to Germany, a U.K. tour version, or if we will finally have it back in the West End.

ALW said something very interesting yesterday - he said some things were right, some needed improving but he'd soon have an up to date version he was happy with that he could "hand over if someone wanted to produce it."
Implies he doesn't wish to produce it himself. In last few years he seems to be letting go of his intense involvement of producing his own shows and concentrating on being the author. It's a change I've noticed since Love Never Dies and I think it's a good thing for him, he appears much more relaxed these days.

Right now this week is done, time for me to move to the Sunset Boulevard thread where I'll be on turban watch up and down the country for the next six months!