Travelling to Bochum

I survived! I'm here! Sorry, I often forget the international section exists and tens just to frequent the general, plays and musical section.

I had a great weekend, it was all plain skating, thanks to all your help, and considering my next trip already!

I can confirm I am not the replacement pearl though.

 Do tell us more about your adventures  

He's alive! We all assumed you were eaten by a lion! /Nabalungi

Just go for it. I kept delaying my first trip to New York for quite a while and when I finally flew over, I was wondering why I hadn't done it earlier. I'll even do a long theatre weekend in New York this December (flying over on Friday and returning on Tuesday) where I'll be seeing six shows.

And I thought you were a strong independent woman

That's true. Hotels are terribly expensive in mid December (which is one of the reasons why my trip is that short). At least I've worked my way up from Brooklyn to Financial District.

I remembered this thread as part of me had always wanted to try to get to Bochum to see Starlight, but I was scared as I'm very badly travelled, have never even been to Germany, and my German language skills are next to non-existent! I've since been a bit braver and managed to get to Ghent, so after I was recently reminded about this, I've decided I want to go!

So has anyone been recently and can provide any advice? I see I can fly to Dusseldorf (have checked Dortmund but see they only fly to and from London) and then get the train to Bochum and then the tram to near the theatre. I was thinking of going Friday to Monday, and seeing the matinee shows on Saturday and Sunday. I've found some well known hotels near to both Dusseldorf and Bochum train stations, but am thinking if I'm going to the show on both Saturday and Sunday, it makes sense to stay in Bochum rather than travelling back to Dusseldorf only to come back again the next day.

Does anyone have any advice on where to seat in the theatre? I normally like to sit front stalls, but of course this is no normal auditorium! Thanks anyone.

I've just got back from an amazing long weekend in Germany!! As I mentioned in my earlier post above, I'd never even been there before, but as I wanted to see the show I decided to be brave and take myself there. I even managed to remember some German from my schooldays and dared to try it out - it seemed to work ok as I received what I attempted to order on quite a few occasions!

I flew to Dusseldorf on Friday morning, and spent the afternoon at the Rhine tower, and stayed at the Premier Inn near the station. On Saturday I got the train to Bochum and the tram up to the Planetarium, from where I walked to the Starlight theatre. I was amazed at the auditorium from the second I walked in. I was sat behind the second race track, at the side close to the main stage. The show was just fantastic, it's great to see the races in action at full speed rather than via "safety" 3D glasses! The end of the show coincided with the end of the football at the stadium which is almost next door, and the tram station was closed, so I had to walk back into town. I got slightly lost, as it was coming in dark, but it was all part of the adventure, and I got back to Dusseldorf in one piece being very grateful for Google maps and GPS!

My flight route only operates on Fridays and Mondays, so with nothing else to take my fancy yesterday, I went back to Bochum (that had been my plan all along, and I'd booked tickets for both shows beforehand). This time I'd decided to treat myself to a 360 degree seat at the front which was fantastic. I could really feel the speed of the skaters being so close, and being able to follow the races as they go round made it easier to keep track of who was winning when.

I didn't directly understand much of the script, but it really didn't matter as I knew the storyline and most of the songs. I didn't know Ich Bin Ich, and it seems as though they've changed the melody of the verse to Starlight Express "When your good nights have been said and you are lying in bed ..." On the second viewing I was able to join up a bit more of the German lyrics, with what I knew. I bought the socks and the tote bag, which is great value at €2.

I'm pretty tired now, and don't really know what time it is, but I'm absolutely buzzing. To anyone else thinking about going to Bochum - just do it!! If you loved the show here, you will love it even more there. I'm so pleased this show got me to visit Germany, otherwise I might never have found reason to go, and I really would like to become more travelled. I'm already thinking I would like to go back again at some point ...

Glad to read all the love for Starlight here and glad to hear you survived coming to the Rhineland at the height of carnival @rozzi

Sadly the revisions for the 30th anniversary killed my love for the show stone dead. They had kept chipping away from the original show I loved over a long time, but this was the "tilt" for me where I said no more. Too many wonderful songs gone and those that are left often ruined by idiotic ideas like the disco ball belly for Rusty during "I am the Starlight" or the awful monochromatic costumes of Pearl and Electra.

Still, I might have to revisit this year to take an American friend who's never seen it.

I had this too on Saturday - I was sat directly behind the second race track, and could see over the first barrier easily enough but not the second one. I thought I would be watching the whole show through the screen, and was contemplating moving to the row behind, and so my joy when they lowered the second barrier as the show started was equal to yours!!

I'm so jealous you've worked on the show there, I was walking the tracks in the interval (I love how they actually have the train track pattern on them) and wished I could skate down them!

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday - Turnov is still announced as being from Russia (I believe, although I could have misinterpreted the German) but they don't wave his flag, the skater carries the flagpole and it looks as though the flag is tightly wrapped around it.

This is a HUGE miss for me. As you say, it was the music building and the lights gently coming up, then seeing Rusty and the carriages skating over the main bridge and around the outer track, and finally seeing the Greaseball Gang helmet lights coming through the fog at the back of the bowl that really set the bar for the rest of the show - it was absolutely magical. The crash straight into the arrival of the International trains just doesn't cut it.

Has anyone driven? Considering doing a mini-Europe tour during the summer holiday. I saw the Bochum production when I was at school on a German exchange to Essen back in 2005/6 and saw Bernie Blanks in the role. We're thinking of making a stop as my other half has never seen Starlight before.

Well I finally got my chance to head over to Germany this past weekend and see Starlight Express again after so many years.

It was such a thrill to be back in the theatre again, and the foyer looks lovely since the refurb - though I did really miss the old 'departure board' with the day's cast on it, it always gave a nice authentic railway feel.

We'd booked my favourite seats a couple of rows back from the outer track, so had a lovely view of absolutely everything.

I loved some of the changes to the show, especially Pearl's story. In past versions she's always seemed very flighty and mean to Rusty when she dumps him and heads off with Electra for race 1, but having her brought in as a new toy (Control having spent all his pocket money on her) and her meeting Rusty for the first time made her much more of a likeable character. She tells Rusty that she's happy to be friends but nothing more, which makes for a nicer transition for her racing with Electra rather than just dumping him as she did previously.

It also felt for the first time as if the show had an actual story to it, rather than just being about the trains racing.

I really missed the original overture though. I was getting nicely settled into it, hearing the music building, then Control barks out "Stop, stop, stop" and they go into the arrival of the international trains rather than having Rusty and the carriages doing the skate round.

I also really missed Girls' Rolling Stock in act 2 - with the exception of Ich Bin Ich it didn't feel as though Belle and Carrie had a great deal to do.

A lot of the acrobatics have been cut from Rechte Zeitpunkt, and the Rockies' German pronunciation was just horrendous - I couldn't tell what they were singing most of the time.

Emilie du Lesley was a real highlight as Pearl, such a beautiful voice and perfect German pronunciation, and Jake Bishop's Dustin was so unbelievably adorable. Seeing the Starlight legend that is Reva Rice as Mama was incredible too - I'm sure she must be around the 60 year old mark now, and to see her skating race 2 as well as the rest of the show really was a something to remember.

Sadly Rusty didn't 'fly' in the Starlight Sequenz, but I loved the use of the drones - a real goosebumps moment!