 STARLIGHT
EXPRESS
A musical in 2 acts: Based on an idea by Andrew Lloyd Webber; lyrics
by Richard Stilgoe; music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Apollo Victoria Theatre, London - 19 March, 1984
Gershwin Theatre, New York - 15 March, 1987 (761 perfs)
Story:
When the children are asleep, their toys play, especially the engines
and carriages of the train set. They race across the set in a series
of contests. There's the macho Pacific Daylight (better known as
Greaseball), the fastest diesel, in contrast to Rusty, the little
steam engine who merely works in the sidings. From France there's
Bobo (Sudest), Italy offers Espresso (Settobello), and then there
are the APT and entries from Russia, Japan and, at the last minute,
the electrically powered super engine, Electra (AC/DC). They vie
for superiority along with the best cars, trucks and cabooses. Rusty
pulls the three boxcars, Rocky I, II and III. No chance for Rusty,
it seems, with the smoking car, Ashley, Buffy the restaurant car,
or the brand-new Pearl. Just to make his job more difficult, there's
a two-timing guard's van called CB, who does all he can to sabotage
Rusty and leave the way clear for Electra and Greaseball.
One by one the bigger, more powerful, locos come to grief. Rusty's
Poppa wins an eliminator, but Rusty, with the help of the Starlight
Express (his guiding star in the sky), must take over. He defeats
Electra, and finally Pearl realises that Rusty is her engine. Greaseball
may have a future - converted to steam and with Dinah in tow! There's
a light at the end of the tunnel, and old-fashioned steam has beaten
the new technologies.
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