leanuponmybar

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u ever have an image pop in ur head and have to make it real

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Rough Draft

( In ref to this post )

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favourite genre of starlight express image is when the actor is in full costume + makeup and then just has like a regular ass drink in their hand. Ashley with a redbull. Dinah with a pepsi. CB with a coke bottle. there are more but you get the idea.

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Cartoony and fun!

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“Do not hide yourself from me, my love.”

Me when my girlfriend won’t open her core

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JaneDinah being a silly little cutie pt. 2

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my thoughts after seeing stex wembley :D

I saw the 25/1/25 Matinee!

We had a few swings/understudies on- Scott Hayward as Rusty, Lara Vina Uzcatia as Greaseball, Asher Forth as Electra, Jamie Cruttenden as Lumber, Jessie Angell as Slick, Red as Green Arrow, Charles Butcher as Orange Flash, Sam Gallacher as Killerwatt, Bethany Rose Lythgoe as Wrench and Gary Sheridan as Volta. They all did incredible!

I adore the little remixes they have of cut songs from the show that play in the lobby! I didn't notice them at first but I swear my ears pricked up when I realised I could hear the melody of There's Me! I think the full list of remixes were There's Me, Next Time You Fall in Love, A Lotta Locomotion and Right Place, Right Time (Please tell me if I've missed any!)

This is the first show I've ever been to where there's been a safety briefing beforehand! The staff are all incredibly professional although they aren't miced up, so if you are hard of hearing you may want to grab one beforehand to ask them to run you through everything.

We had a show stop! I was actually pretty hyped about this because I'd heard about them happening a few times and as someone with the tiniest experience running theatre tech I wanted to see how it worked! Everything was fine and it was sorted quickly. The stop happened right at the end of Crazy since the house lights kept flicking on and off.

The show sounds so much better in person! I've listened to the cast recording and seen a few bootlegs and the criticism that it's hard to understand is definitely because people are watching recordings of the show. I have auditory processing issues and was realising what some of the lyrics were mid-song when I was in the theatre!

I was sat trackside in the locomotive seats and I'm so glad I didn't buy a cheaper ticket because I could see the entire track, and so much happened directly in front of me! The crash during race 2 happened right where I was sitting, and Dinah and Porter were cheering for the final race in the aisle. At one point, Lumber skated right into the barrier and when I jumped, he turned around and said "Didn't see you there!" which I thought was so cute!

If you want cast interactions and you're near the track, cheer during the races! clap along to songs! of course, being trackside helps, but simply show how much you're loving the show and it pays off. The cast are absolutely incredible with interacting with the audience mid-show as well as during the megamix, and I was so happy with how many little moments that I got to see so close up! If you're recording the megamix, look up at the performers and not at your phone, too!

The only downside of this is that sometimes your view will be blocked- I missed a bit of one of the songs because Tassita was positioned directly in front of me and I couldn't see past! However, the cast are almost constantly moving, so you'll be alright.

I truly can't recommend the locomotive trackside seats enough- there's never any turning around and craning your neck during the races to see what's going on!

During the races, there are live camera feeds which show up on the screens around the theatre. I didn't notice it for a while, but it's the marshalls with the cameras, and it really makes you feel like you're watching a race!

Speaking of the marshalls, they're absolutely incredible! Some of the tricks they pull off are insane to see, and sometimes I felt like I was cheering for them more than the skate stunts!

There have been a few little tweaks made since the recording of the bootleg that was floated around. They're mostly just a few words changed in lines, but there's still new things to see!

Seeing all the tech live is breathtaking. It's one thing to see a video, but so many moments completely took my breath away, especially I Am the Starlight.

I've got so much more appreciation for Pearl and the Freights as characters now. Not that I didn't like them before, but I definitely love them more after the show!

By the end of Act 1, I had already decided I needed to see the show again! I felt like everything could have taken twice as long and I still would have loved it.

In short- if you can see this show please do! It is entertaining, thrilling, and absolutely worth your money no matter where you're sitting!

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I got suuuuper hyper-fixated on starlight express when they switched Greaseball, the douchey male character into a douchey butch woman. I would happily be tied up on the track, a damsel in distress if it was this train coming down the tracks

Plus I love drawing ladies with muscles, and this was practically an invitation.

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okay okay so yknow how all of the stex characters are intended to be control’s toy trains? here are my thoughts on how that works in controls world (this is specifically with the revival because they feel much more like toys there):

- rusty and momma were both hand-me-downs from control’s dad, they came from the same older era of toy trains but momma was used much more than rusty, which is why she’s more run-down

- greaseball was from a line of trains from different countries and was the american one but control’s british (and never gave her an american accent when they played with her) so she has a british accent.

- the british train that we hear about but never see is from this same line as gb, maybe control lost them and they make up the silly jokes as a way to ”explain” this to the other trains

- electra and the components came as one huge set packaged together, one engine and four trucks. thats why they revival components look so similar, they weren’t meant to be mixed and matched with other sets.

- the champion engines are all from the same line, just with slightly different bases and colors. they were meant to be a kids starting point for their collection (explaining their simple designs)

- the coaches are all from the same line, with control having gotten dinah first, then tassita, then belle, then pearl. control took a while to get pearl and complete the set, so when she arrives the coaches seem really excited because control is happy to finally have all four.

- the fuel trucks originally only had three in their line, just porter, lumber, and slick. but, a while after their line was released the company that made them learned that scientists were starting to try and use hydrogen as an eco-friendly fuel. so they tacked hydra onto the line as a way to promote environmentalism to kids. this is also why the fuel trucks seem annoyed by hydra trying to join in with them, he wasn’t originally part of the set.

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Greaseball: i'm s o r r r y

Everyone: awee poor baby doesn't know how to spell 🥺

Greaseball: no i have a concussion

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Paul Kribbe as Greaseball, Starlight Express Commercial, Bochum 1988

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AUGH my beloveds <3

please pardon any bad formatting, i’ve never used tumblr before (*´꒳`*)

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I don’t remember who said it but “starlight express lost the plot when they started to cast white Rustys” is SOOOOO real

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i think that we get so wrapped up in LESBIAN greaseball, and whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, that we forget FEMALE greaseball.

that’s a win, regardless of her identity. she’s strong, she’s the winner, and never once is that questioned in relation to her gender. “the UNDISPUTED leader of the rolling stock”? “SHE just can’t lose?” YES YOU GO FEMALE GREASEBALL I LOVE YOU

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I thought I posted this

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Got told he couldn’t commit heinous train crimes…. Boo boo the fool… 🤡

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Your honor they are so dorky I love them 😭🫶🏻

He's so dramatic about that little tap on the chest 😫

((Greaseball: Rory McCollum, Dinah: Farah Liss))

((video by me :3))