Forty years after its West End premiere, Andrew Lloyd Webber and RichardStilgoe’s iconic musical about anthropomorphic roller-skating locomotives – Starlight Express – makes a dazzling return to London in an awe-inspiring, immersive production from Luke Sheppard. The venue – Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre – is entirely dedicated to the show, from the disco ball-bedecked foyer to a completely reconfigured, high-tech auditorium, designed by Tim Hatley.
A huge racing track, replete with traffic lights, weaves around the epic space of the Troubadour, with two semi-circular ramps joining up to create a ring around part of the audience, and then extending to the seats behind. The audience is partitioned into separate ‘locomotive’ seating areas: sitting trackside, the roller-skating actors whoosh around at heart-pounding speeds at about head height.
But that’s just the part of this spectacular, state-of-the-art experience. The central stage features a revolve, a rising platform,and a giant skate ramp. There are cameras scattered around which project the races onto big screens, and at times a model solar system is suspended above the stage – an enlarged version of the mobile hanging in the child (Control’s) bedroom. In fact, the inclusion of the child (‘Control’) who imagines the whole story, is a new development in this production (in the original show, Control’s voice was heard, but never appeared physically on stage). It’s Control’s toy trains that come to life, and Sheppard’s production is infused with their personality – from a strict adherence to rules to a sense of wonder which fuels this fantastical extravaganza. Control is played by a mixture of boys and girls; on opening night the prodigiously talented Christian Buttaci (who recently appeared in NT’s The Witches)played the role with panache.
The plot, thought slightly updated, remains easy to follow, yet simultaneously slightly nonsensical: it is a dramatic representation of childsplay after all (Lloyd Webber wrote this musical specifically for his own young children). Control is playing racing games with toy trains. The nominal hero is Jeevan Beech’s Rusty, a sensitive yet indefatigable steam engine deemed obsolete and ridiculed by his locomotive rivals –aggressive diesel powered Greaseball (Al Knott) and flashy electric-powered Electra (Tom Pigram). Rusty is determined to compete to impress his dream girl, first class carriage Pearl – and is motivated by an ineffable believe-in-yourself spirit, the Starlight Express. There are endless shenanigans about which engine is paired with which carriage and much debate about secondary power sources. Theoretically Starlight Express pushes the pro steam train agenda, but in the final race, Rusty joins forces with the eco-friendly, hydrogen powered ‘net zero hero’ Hydra (played with zest by Jaydon Vijn) in one of the more obvious plot updates. Rusty and Hydra coalesce to form some sort of carbon neural supertrain, which doesn’t make much sense, but doesn’t really have to – this is all a child’s game, not the forum for a serious-minded discussion about our energy future.
Lloyd Webber’s pastiche score – blending pop, rock and roll, country, gospel, electronica, and even a bit of rap – is fun and varied. The songs are performed loudly, and are an eclectic but generally pop-orientated mix. Jeevan Braich and Kayna Montecillo as Rusty and Pearl sing a couple of dulcet duets (‘Whistle at Me’ and ‘I Do’), and Eve Humphrey is witty and wry in Dinah the dining car’s break-up number, ‘Uncoupled’. Rusty’s mentor, Momma (changed from Poppa in the original version, presumably to balance out the male gender skew of the show), is played by Jade Marvin, who brings a powerful, husky voice to her blues solo, and belts out the climactic number, ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’.
Visually, the show is a riot. There is a phenomenal display from Lighting Designer Howard Hudson – laser beams, LEDs, pyro, twinkling stars, and seamless connection with Video Designer & Animator Andrzej Goulding’s slick video. Gabriella Slade’s retro-futurist costumes feature striking details, such as smoke that unfurls from the steam characters’ backpacks, and inflatable blue electricity charge emanating from the electric engines. Choreographer Ashley Nottingham, working with creative dramaturg and original choreographer Arlene Phillips, gives the audience everything from hip-shaking swing to funky street dance. The race marshals, riding scooters, do jaw-dropping upside-down flips off the ramp.
It’s a supercharged spectacle – a theme park ride of a show – and is sure to be on track for a lengthy ride in its swish new home.
Starlight Express is at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre to 8 June 2025.
For tickets visit tickets.starlightexpresslondon.com
