A dazzling, brilliant show that makes so little sense but still manages to thrill (Picture: Pamela Raith)
It’s been a long time coming, but Starlight Express has skated itself back to London for the first time since 2002.
Wembley’s Troubadour Theatre has been transformed to house the return of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s utterly bizarre and iconic 80’s musical about a series of trains (performed by actors on roller skates) that compete in a series of races – all taking place from inside the head of a child (‘Control’).
This new production of the show is, as it has always been, a spectacular achievement. It can’t be stressed enough how little weight the plot has, but the experience is such a spectacle that, come curtain call, it manages to leave every audience member with a beaming smile on their face and perhaps a nostalgic-inducing tear.
The dazzling new Troubadour set, the lighting and video effects, the so-camp hair and costumes (which look like a techno merger of Abba’s Super Troopers and C3PO) and the music with melodies that stick with you across literal decades are on full and confident display here.
As is, of course, the literal danger of this performance. We’re talking about an electric, constant current of dancers skating, cross-skating, race-skating across various levels like Mario Kart, and some quite terrifying 360 scooter flips.
Our performance was actually paused for ten minutes as a tiny piece of the stage racetrack had to be fixed. The audience – having already seen the breathtaking and incredibly complex opening number – appeared to entirely understand the severity and the necessity of the repair.
Famously (at least within Starlight lore circles), intentional crashes were actually choreographed into the Broadway production to cover up the regular crashes that would take place during every performance, so the audience would never be sure if it was real or not.
As one critic of the 90s production once said: ‘I really think Andrew Lloyd Webber was trying to kill people here’.
The new and improved Greaseball steals the show (Picture: Pamela Raith)
There are changes; Control is now played charismatically by a young actor on stage and some songs are omitted (RIP the problematic ‘A Lotta Locomotion’) although the excruciatingly catchy ‘Hydrogen’ feels instantly canon.
The added scenes also give the protagonist steam engine Rusty (the talented 18-year-old Jeevan Braich in his first professional role) some additional reasons for the audience to root for him in his pursuit of the classy first-class carriage Pearl (Kayna Montecillo).
Both Braich and Montecillo – considering they are playing trains – give wonderfully vulnerable performances while skating effortlessly across the track in a series of locomotive-style A Whole New World numbers, and are names to watch out for.
When ‘Whistle at Me’ plays you might find yourself unironically believing in train love (Picture: Pamela Raith)
Their performance and the added scenes help, but unfortunately don’t quite help enough to truly sell the narrative of the romance or the stakes of the races.
Not much of that …read more
Source:: Metro
