Read our review of the iconic train musical Starlight Express, now revived and in performances at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre to 16 February 2025.
Forty years on from its West End premiere, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe’s Starlight Express makes an extraordinary return to London in this jaw-dropping immersive production from Luke Sheppard. The entire venue is now dedicated to the show, from the foyer decked out with disco balls through to a completely transformed auditorium.
A huge racing track now weaves around this epic space, with two semi-circular descending ramps joining up to create a ring around part of the audience, and then extending to the seats behind. I sat trackside, which meant the actors playing trains whizzed right past me on roller skates at heart-pounding speeds.
But that’s just the beginning of this mind-blowing state-of-the-art experience. The central stage has a revolve, a rising platform and a giant skate ramp, there are cameras dotted around which project the races onto big screens, and planets descend from the ceiling – a large version of the mobile hanging in a little boy’s bedroom.
That’s one of the significant updates: the boy who imagines this whole story, known as Control, is now an onstage character. It’s his toy trains which come to life, and Sheppard’s production is infused with his personality – from his strict adherence to rules to a sense of wonder which fuels this fantastical spectacle. Although he isn’t so keen on the mushy romance part.
The actual plot, though revised, remains pretty bonkers. In short: trains are racing in pairs, engines teaming up with coaches. Old-fashioned steam engine Rusty is mocked by aggressive diesel Greaseball and a sleek Germanic electric train, but competes anyway to impress his dream girl, first class carriage Pearl – and is inspired by a vague believe-in-yourself spirit, the Starlight Express.
There’s basically no stakes (nothing really happens if you win or lose), and the relationships are sketchy, so it’s more a vibe than a drama. There’s a new character, a hydrogen truck named Hydra, but this isn’t exactly the medium for an earnest discussion about our energy future.
Nevertheless, a committed cast goes full steam ahead. Jeevan Braich and Kayna Montecillo are a sweet-sounding, earnest pair as Rusty and Pearl, while Jaydon Vijn, as the laddish Hydra does immaculate spins, and Eve Humphrey is very funny in Dinah the dining car’s Dolly Parton-esque break-up number.
Some genders have been changed to better balance the show, so Al Knott’s preening, competitive Greaseball is now female, while Jade Marvin, as Rusty’s mentor Momma (changed from Poppa), brings a mighty voice to her blues solo and takes us to church with climactic number “Light at the End of the Tunnel”.
Lloyd Webber’s varied, pastiche score – mixing rock and roll, doo-wop, country, gospel and electronica – is fun and has the odd earworm. But in a post-Hamilton world, the cringe-worthy rap should really be ditched.
Gabriella Slade’s fabulous retro-futurist costumes nod to both armoured Marvel superheroes and the Six queens, with cool details like smoke unfurling from the steam characters’ backpacks – although they must be heavy, making the cast’s silky skating all the more impressive. We’re talking SAS levels of fitness here.
Ashley Nottingham, working with creative dramaturg and original choreographer Arlene Phillips, gives us everything from hip-shaking swing and a kick line to funky streetdance. The race marshals, riding scooters, do incredible upside-down flips off the ramp.
This tech-wizard production also boasts the biggest lighting rig I’ve ever seen in theatre, and a phenomenal display from Howard Hudson – LEDs, lasers, twinkling stars. It’s smoothly connected to Andrzej Goulding’s crisp video, which flashes up the racers’ names when they enter, like the Gladiators.
It’s an awe-inspiring stadium gig-meets-theme park ride of a show – and it should be on track for a long, successful ride in its flash new home.
Starlight Express is at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre to 16 February 2025. Book Starlight Express tickets on London Theatre.
Photo credit: Starlight Express (Photos by Pamela Raith)
