Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express has been seen by over twenty million people worldwide, and will make its return to London in a specially designed auditorium.
The musical originally opened in London at the Apollo Victoria in 1984 where it ran for over 7,400 performances. One of the most successful productions has been in Germany at the specially constructed Starlighthalle where it has been running since 1988.
“I am thrilled that Starlight Express will be powering down the tracks again,” Andrew Lloyd Webber said in a statement. “The world’s first truly immersive musical will this time be an experience like no other. Watch out for the big new plot twist and you will discover why steam power is the future of the railway.”
Starlight Express is a high-energy musical that centres around a child’s train set which magically springs to life. As engines race to be the fastest in the world, Rusty the steam train finds hope and inspiration in the legend of the Starlight Express.
Director Luke Sheppard (&Juliet, The Little Big Things) leads the creative team for this new production, which features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe.
The theatre this is showing in is a bit out of the way for the West End, but has done well with new stagings for shows, recently with Newsies.
Hopefully they can sort out the sound issues Newsies had in time for Starlight Express
Sound design is such a critical element in musical theatre I’m always shocked and disappointed when a show has sub-par sound. This has even happened at major productions, eg on Broadway.
I’m actually quite fond of Starlight Express and hope to catch this production next year. Sure it’s basically just Cats on wheels, but it’s one of the first musicals I ever saw.
It really is and when things don’t sound right, it can dampen the show. Newsies ran the gamut from mics missing cues, weird mixing with the band, some lines being lost over others, and I don’t think the adequately dampened the stage as during the dance numbers (which in Newsies, there are many) some lyrics got lost over the stomping and poor volume
Hoping Starlight fixes a fair chunk of those issues as the venue really is quite nice