Andrew Lloyd Webber’s STARLIGHT EXPRESS opens summer 2024 in the specially designed Starlight Auditorium at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.
Audiences will be immersed inside a world of speed, song and storytelling as an incredible cast of 40 whizz around and above, performing some of musical theatre’s most beloved songs, including AC/DC, Make Up My Heart, Light at the End of the Tunnel and the iconic Starlight Express.
As a child’s train set magically comes to life and the engines race to become the fastest in the world, Rusty the steam train has little hope of winning until he is inspired by the legend of the ‘Starlight Express’.
Seen around the world by over 20 million people,
STARLIGHT EXPRESS is an electrifying experience for all ages.
With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, the creative team is helmed by acclaimed director Luke Sheppard (& Juliet, The Little Big Things), set designer Tim Hatley (Back to the Future), video designer Andrzej Goulding (Life of Pi), costume designer Gabriella Slade (Six), lighting designer Howard Hudson (& Juliet), sound designer Gareth Owen (MJ the Musical) with new orchestrations and musical supervision by Matthew Brind.
Featuring thrilling new choreography by Ashley Nottingham (Pacific Overtures) and casting by Pearson Casting CDG, STARLIGHT EXPRESS also sees the return of Arlene Phillips as creative dramaturg.
The Starlight Auditorium at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre is a state-of the-art cultural destination only 12 minutes from Baker Street and a short 5-minute walk from the tube. There are great parking options and the theatre is easily accessible via the M25 and M1
Accessible Performances
Signed, Audio Described and Captioned:
Sun 6th October, 2024 - 1pm
Wed 9th October, 2024 - 7.30pm
Gabriella Slade (Six) has taken the Eighties vibe very seriously when it comes to defining the look of the characters. Many of the costumes come with fabulous shoulder pads that Krystle Carrington would have given her left kidney for, while the coloured hair, mullets and bright make-up are quintessential romo. The detailed outfits for the engines are a high point, the stylings one of the few things helping us tell them apart. Hydra is given a cool green outfit to go with his eco-credentials while the Electric crew are dressed up as camp ice pixies.
Every time Starlight Express pulls up to a new theatre it undergoes substantial revisions – it’s the Train of Theseus, barely anything remains of the original – and that’s true here: Control is actually played by a child, rather than a disembodied voice as in previous productions. Gone are the trains with dumb names corresponding to their countries (Espresso for Italy, Manga for Japan), lots of genders have been swapped. But the big thing is that it looks a bit weird in 2024 to be hymning steam trains and booing the electric baddie, so in comes a new character – the Hydrogen train – to be our hero’s helper.
| 1984 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
| 1987 | Broadway |
Broadway Production Broadway |
| 2024 | West End |
West End |
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