#starlight express ashley

[csodaturmix]

the girls ever

[i-may-not-be-first-class]

StEx Appreciation Month Day 7: Ashley 🚬

Andrea McArdle (Broadway 1987, first cast); Roslyn Howell (Bochum 1988, first cast)

Favourite Actor: Erin Lordan, Stacia Goad, Emma Prosser

Favourite Songs/Scenes: A Lotta Locomotion, Girls’ Rolling Stock, I love it ✨ (that’s what I call the short scene before Light in the original London version)

Favourite Costume: a mix between Broadway and early 2010s Bochum I guess - it’s not that easy haha

[etchif]

buncha trains

[wetcatschwartzy]

happy halloween 🐟🦪

[dwoht-b1tch]

Theres no girls girl group better then the coaches

[tabooi]

Starlight Express, Bochum 1989

[phopollo]

(Stex cartoon post)

Rusty after having a really bad day: Sometimes I wish I were more like Electra >:(

Rusty's dream that night:

[uselessjester]

Redesigned some coaches last night and decided to post them here!!

Never posted on here before, feeling scared as fuck

[tabooiart]

i was thinking i was gonna shade this but then i decided. no <3

^photo this is based on

[sketchy-lizards]

🎵 Got to be a living breathing passenger train! 🎶

Happy StEx appreciation month :)

[honey-dont]

stex month day 6: ashley!

favorite actor: chrissy wickham and emma prosser!

favorite songs/scenes: def girls rolling stock! the choreo is so fun, so is a lotta locomotion

favorite costumes: bochum, specifically with the longer skirt!! it's so pretty <3 i also like her showgirl costume, i think it's the cutest of the bunch. big fan of late london when the metal hairpiece was triangular too

favorite ships/friendships: i'm not super invested in ashley/buffy but it's cute enough! i also hc her and duvay as sisters and they're very close :)

headcanons: offering ppl a cigarette is one of her go-to ways to try and comfort them! she's willing to give up the last one she has. she also likes those big fancy cigarette holders and has a collection of them

unpopular opinion: tbh i don't think i have one?? she's not a very contentious character. i guess i'm not super upset about her being cut even if i do like her

[brand-new-girl]

POV you're a bug on the tracks

[etchif]

Doodlessss

[wetcatschwartzy]

if buffy and ashley aren’t lesbians and married then what was that choreo in girls rolling stock for hmm

[wonderful-magician]

The main four coaches have been completed!! The others will probably be done by tomorrow ^^ !!

Pretend I drew the wheels on their gloves I felt like they would look stupid this simplified

Anyway pearl is Ashley and buffys adopted niece and Dinah is here for undercover chaos

[dinahdoeeyes]

My ideal production of Starlight Express.

I suppose I'll just get right into it. First the list of characters, then the songs (excluding little bits/non-songs like Taunting Rusty and the races), then the rest.

Cast:

Rusty

Pearl

Greaseball

Dinah

Electra

CB

Ashley

Buffy

Poppa

Belle, the Sleeping Car (called Memphis Belle)

Dustin

Flat-Top

The Rockies

Volta, Joule, Wrench, Purse, and Krupp

The original National Engines

Duvay and the Sleepers

Control

Setlist (* = will be addressed below):

Entry Of National Trains

Rolling Stock

Call Me Rusty

A Lotta Locomotion ('83 Workship version, but with Buffy added)

He Whistled At Me (Minus the Rusty/Pearl conversation)

*Dinah/Greaseball duet

Freight (With the girls bullying the boys)

AC/DC

Pumping Iron ("Trying to build my body, trying to lose my mind" and "Stretching my bullworker, heaving on my weights" switch spots because I just feel that it'd sound better that way.)

Sleepers moment

*Dinah solo

Hitching and Switching (probably original)

Crazy

*That was Unfair (extended)

That's Me/There's Me (duet)

Poppa's Blues

Belle's Song (Combo of OG & Broadway — especially "sniffing the coke")

Starlight Express

The Rap: Hey You

*Make Up My Heart

Pearl Twirl

U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.

Girls' Rolling Stock

Wide Smile (Mostly the Broadway version, except he says the OG "...C.B." in the chorus instead of Broadway's "...the Red Caboose," until the ending after Electra & co leave.)

I Was Robbed

Right Place, Right Time

I Am The Starlight

Rusty and Dustin

*Dinah's Disco (extended)

No Comeback

One Rock & Roll Too Many

I Do and/or Only You (I really want "I Do," and it feels redundant to do both in a row, but I feel like "Only You" is important?)

*GreaseDinah reunion (extended)

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Starlight Express Megamix (of course)

Notes:

We are leaning hard into the 80's here! None of that trying to modernize StEx they've been doing since the 90's. It doesn't work, and the hyper-80's...ness is one of the best things about StEx!

This is about 60% the 1984 original, so keep that in mind.

Dinah & Greaseball look most like the original Dinah and Greaseball. (Though Dinah's hair looks like this. I'll get to her costumes below.) Greaseball looks completely like Jeff Shankley's GB.

Most of the costumes look like the Broadway versions.

However, Pearl gets 3 costumes; her pants outfit from the '84 previews (but with white pants), followed by her sleek Broadway dress outfit (w/ Electra), and then the fluffy dress outfit (w/ GB).

Dinah has 2 costumes; the first one being more Broadway (but I dislike the leggings, so different ones), and then, when she pairs with Electra, she changes to an outfit that is similar to her OG outfit.

C.B.'s look is very similar to the original, except his pants are black, and he has his later hat.

I want some of the choreography from the '83 workshop. ( x x x x )

Dinah & Greaseball banter a bit because "Incapable of feeding yourself, Greaseball?" Ohhh *chef's kiss* 2017 London Workshop did something right!

*Dinah & Greaseball get a couple's duet. It's a fun, cute, rock/80's pop mix song that touches on their love for each other and how they don't care about others' bullshit. ("Our Lips Are Sealed" kind of vibes, I suppose.)

Ashley and Duvay are sisters.

Greaseball pulls the girls during "Freight," like he originally did.

*Dinah gets a solo after "Pumping Iron" after the Sleepers talk their bullshit. It'd be about 3½ minutes long. If you've read my Dinah rants, you can get an idea of what it's about.

Greaseball, Bobo, and Espresso are part of the choreography during "Crazy" toward the end, racing around with Dinah, Ashley, and Buffy. (I promise this is FIRE in my head. Have faith. 🥺)

*Grease & Dinah have a longer argument before their breakup.

Dinah and C.B. have a duet. It's the Broadway version of There's Me combined with That's Me. (Dinah singing her solo part first.)

*Pearl sings "Make Up My Heart" about Rusty, Electra, and Greaseball. (Explanation here.)

*"U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D." is slower, sadder, and has more lyrics, like it was in the '83 workshop.

Buffy & Ashley are finally canon. It's Complicated™️, but they get it together by the end.

*"Dinah's Disco" is a bit longer, as is *Dinah & Greaseball's reunion/makeup.

Pearl is absolutely like original Pearl in this: A selfish bitch (who learns and gets better by the end); she is not "naive." ("Further from my vision" over "Sadder but no wiser.")

We actually acknowledge that Pearl is an asshole. But, like Greaseball, she learns and is working on herself by the end! 🙌🏽

Pearl apologizes to Dinah at the end. FINALLY. (During a break in LATEOTT.)

Control loves the engines/coaches/freight, and they love him. He's just a bossy little kid, but they're also actin' up. (I'm open to Control being a girl.)

Electra and the Components do come back.

I... think that's it. I hope didn't forget anything.

CHOO CHOO! 💋