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
How can something so bonkers come across as so drab? The best family entertainment appeals not only to children’s imaginative whimsy but also to their intellect. But “Starlight Express” has no recognizable point of connection with any aspect of real human existence. That needn’t stand in the way of commercial success. There is, of course, a large audience for maximalist kitsch, as the enduring popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest attests. There is also the question of the target audience. In the interests of journalistic rigor, I took a 6-year-old with me to the show. It’s fair to say he was transfixed and delighted by the special effects — and on these terms at least, the show can be said to be a triumph — although subsequent interrogations revealed he was a little muddled about the story. But “Starlight Express” is more theme park than theater. It’s Legoland for the stage.
Every iteration of the show has subtracted and added numbers to Lloyd Webber’s score. That makes sense since the show was never conceived as seriously thought-through musical drama but more as a succession of songs to create a fun-fest event about trains racing against one another to appeal to theater newcomers. This was event-theater before anyone coined the term.
1984 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
1987 | Broadway |
Broadway Production Broadway |
2024 | West End |
West End |
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