#also i learned about starlight express which is a musical on roller skates?? and its about cars?? looks awesome tbh like that must be HARD

[sea-jello]

LONDON+WEST END MICHAEL MELL BLAKE PATRICK ANDERSON BY THE WAY. IF YOU EVEN CARE

[angel-of-stagelights]

I’m Gonna Learn You a Thing

I’ve been at the bottom of a research pit for quite a while now regarding a particular, extremely strange musical by the name of Starlight Express. Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe not. It’s a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and the first thing to know about it is that the entire cast of characters is anthropomorphized train cars, and the show is performed on roller skates.

Starlight Express is weird, even for Andrew Lloyd Webber, and its history is kind of ridiculous. First of all, it was based on a scrapped idea for a Thomas the Tank TV series that was considered in the 70s, but never produced. Webber was also composing songs for an animated TV adaptation of Cinderella that would feature Cinderella as a steam engine and the stepsisters as a diesel engine and an electric engine around the same time. The Cinderella project went into development hell, but Webber salvaged several songs from it to create what would eventually become Starlight Express.

The idea to put the whole show on roller skates actually didn’t come up until after the first few songs were workshopped, but once it was in there, it stuck. Starlight Express is built around its races and dance numbers, all of which are performed on skates.

So what is the show actually about? Well, Starlight Express follows an old steam engine named Rusty and his quest to beat the reigning champion, Greaseball, in a race to prove his worth to Pearl, the beautiful first class carriage. Beyond that, the show has actually undergone a lot of revisions. A lot of revisions. 

Over the course of its production history, the show has had songs added, removed, rewritten, pasted together, and shuffled around. Characters have been added, removed, renamed, and had their storylines and arcs completely reworked. In some versions, the show opens with a child being sent to bed and leaving his toy trains out on the floor, implying that the entirety of the show is some kind of fever dream or made up story. The entire orchestration and tone of the show were revised in 2018 to the point where the German production had to shut down for a month to re-learn the show with all the new changes. Although not remotely the most notable of the 2018 changes, there is particular glee to be found in the introduction of two new characters, a British train named “Brexit” and a Japanese train named “Manga.”

As you've probably guessed, Starlight Express is considered a flop musical on Broadway, but what you probably didn’t guess is that it’s also the ninth longest running production in the history of the West End. It ran from 1984 to 2002 and closed after approximately 7,400 performances. Additionally, there’s a huge theater in Bochum, Germany that was built specifically for Starlight Express, and the show is still running there as of 2020 (28 years). Although the Broadway production closed relatively quickly, it was nominated for seven Tony Awards. The only Tony it won was Best Costume Design.

There’s no conclusion to this post. I have no final point. I just think it’s absolutely fucking wild.