**** (4 stars)
“Captures childhood dreams in the most magical of ways”
Legendary composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s astonishing back catalog of shows are enjoying a critically acclaimed revival’s at venues across London and around the world. The trickiest to stage of his shows marked its 40th anniversary in 2024 with the conception of a brand new immersive production at the purpose built theatre, The Troubadour at Wembley Park (Formally the fountain studios). The show is of course Starlight Express!
Originally debuting in 1984 Starlight express is a musical based on a child hood dream and a fascination with trains. For context Webber tried to adapt the Thomas the tank engine stories prior to Starlight without much success only to achieve a genre defying musical that pushed the boundaries of both performances and venues.
40 years later Starlight is back at Wembley in production that oozes every penny of its massive budget and beautifully captures childhood dreams in the most magical of ways.
As has been the tradition the show features an updated score and some tweaks to the characters, Poppa is now gone and replaced by Momma, a captivating performance from jade Marvin whose rich vocals bring enchanting warmth to the character. Also the role of “Control” is no longer just a voice but an enchanting child cast who perform in rotation. Director Luke Sheppard has also blurred the gender roles in the casting with previous male characters being played by females and vice versa whilst also embracing a non binary approach is also to be commended.
Performances are uniformly excellent, although at the performance we saw there was a slight feeling of a long week of performances catching up with the company, it was a Sunday after all, that said every performance was west end worthy. Jeevan Braich as “Rusty” leads the company with a soulfoul interpretation that captures the characters hopes and desires extremely well. The same is true of Sophie Naglik’s “Pearl” who gives a charming take on a prince charming role. Starlight express is after all a parable on Cinderella! Olivia Ringrose and Asher Forth deliver an inspired “ugly sister” pairing as “Greaseball” and “Electra” respectively giving them just enough edge to be a baddie but still likeable by the youngest members of the audience. The principals are joined by an outstanding thirty strong ensemble including swings who show real flair in performing while on roller skates. Special mention has to go to Nicky Wong Rush as “Tassita” who gives a sassy and capturing performance every moment there on stage. Also to Charlie Russel, Jamie Addison and Dante Hutchinson as “Marshals” with death defying stunt’s a plenty.
Production wise this is a total triumph that’s only achievable by having a purpose built venue to work with, Which has allowed set designer Tim Hatley to build an immersive world for Starlight to inhabit and my word does it knock the eye out. It’s further boosted by Andrzej Goulding’s astonishing video design coupled with Howard Hudson’s beguiling lighting design that take the breath away. Gareth Owen’s bespoke sound design ensures every nuance of the show is heard perfectly as is musical director Laura Bangay’s polished off stage band.
Starlight express’s original costume design already set the bar extremely high, so how do you top it and bring it into 2025? Well costume designer Gabriella Slade has achieved the impossible with costumes that redefine the show in awesome style but still allow the incredible roller-skate wearing company to deliver Ashley Nottingham’s Choreography with detailed accuracy. The production also benefits from the shows original creative Dame Arlene Phillips returning as Creative Dramaturg.
Four decades on Starlight Express is still imbued a with a child like heart filled with joy, laughter, imagination and adventure in equal measure and explores the lighter and fun side to Webber’s writing. It also expresses his love for his own children especially Nick, Andrew’s son whom he wrote the show for and now acts as a tribute to his late son. One thing is for sure only you have the power within you to embrace the starlight and make an express journey to Wembley to enjoy a truly magical production!
Starlight Express, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, London, The production is currently scheduled to run until March 2026 for more information and tickets go to: https://www.starlightexpresslondon.com/
ScotsGay Arts 