The 30th anniversary of the German production saw major revisions, similar in scale to the 1992 "'New' Starlight Express" in London. These revisions were developed from in the 2017 workshop.
Having kept his distance from the production for many years, Lloyd Webber took a hands-on role in updating the show. He has described Starlight Express in Bochum as "very good now... we've done a lot of work on it."[1]
Production Details[]
The script was altered to clarify that Control is playing with toy trains. He refers to Rusty as "the first train I ever got (I was six)" and says of Pearl, "I have bought a new wagon, she cost three weeks' pocket money". The storytelling concerning Pearl and Rusty's relationship was also tightened.
Characters[]
Multiple characters were replaced or reverted:
- Ashley and Buffy were replaced by Belle the Bar Car and Carrie the Luggage van
- The Hip Hoppers reverted to Rockies
- Purse was replaced as the fourth component by Killerwatt Security Truck
- The Japanese engine was rebranded as Manga
- The British engine was brought back rebranded as Brexit
The story was also refocused to redress the gender imbalance. To this end, a female character was added to each "set" of characters:
- Poppa became Mama in the principal Engines
- Rocky 3 became female
- Bobo The French Engine, became the female, Coco.
In the opposite direction, Volta became male, Electra having two male and female components respectively.
Many existing characters received updates in characterization:
- Pearl and Rusty recieved changes to character and the foundations of their love story
- Caboose recieved new money-oriented character motivations, his evil intentions revealed from the start instead of in Act 2
- Dinah, Greaseball, and the National Engines all recieved minor re-characterizations to establish a coach/engine power imbalance
Music[]
The score was considerably rewritten, particularly in the first quarter.
"Crazy" was moved earlier in the show to become Rusty's introduction. "Whole Lotta Locomotion" was replaced by "I Am Me", a girl-power anthem developed from a theme from "Rolling Stock," as the coaches prove their worth after an argument with the engines.
Certain elements of the 2017 workshop were carried over, one such being that Control breaks into the Overture crying "Stop that boring music!" to introduce the National Engines at the beginning of the show rather than just before AC/DC. The Overture consists of the same musical arrangement as the introduction to the "Starlight Sequence", which is maintained as a key musical theme in the show.
A small change was made in 2021, adding flags to the Megamix. In 2022, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Turnov says "Hashtag Oligarch" instead of "Putin's shooting star". In addition, Turnov is the only National Engine who doesn't wave his flag during the megamix as of March 2022, as well as his flag not being flown during his introduction at the beginning.
Another temporary change, made in September 2022, is that Brexit is the only engine to wave his flag due to Queen Elizabeth II passing away.
In 2023 Control's line "Stop that boring music!" was shortened to "Stop the music!".
Race Partners[]
| Race 1 | Race 2 |
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Designs[]
John Napier supervised significant costume redesigns, alongside costumes for the new characters Belle, Carrie, Manga, Coco, Brexit, and Killerwatt.
- Rusty recieved a circular boiler plate to the centre of his costume and regained a hat, redesigned from the older version which hadn't been used since almost a decade prior.
- Electra's costume changed from red and blue to black and silver, most likely because the minimalist and sleek design is more associated with futurism nowadays versus the retro time period of the 1980's.
- Mama's design while kept similar saw the addition of a skirt which was removeable for racing, and a recoloured neckerchief.
- Pearl was recoloured to a fitting 'pearly white', "FIRST CLASS" replacing the "OBSERVATION" titling on the bodice. Her previous thick curly pink wig was replaced with straight short ponytail, bangless, and with a kokoshnik shaped headpiece replacing her tiara.
- Dinah was minorly revamped with a panelled skirt and napkin similarly used a decade prior, bolder patterning, her wig and headpieces reverting to the brown colouration and shape used back in London.
- Components Joule, Volta and Wrench received minor changes: Joule's wig reverted back to the short cut style from its broadway design, Wrench featured more black colouration in her costume, Volta's wig changed to a combover style, removing the hat and styling of previous incarnations, the leotard and hips were altered, removing the feminine shaping for the new primarily male role.
- The Rockies previous costume in Bochum was expanded on, with padded gloves and longer shorts harkening to the boxer inspiration of the characters, the green, yellow, and blue theming was also intergrated into the base leotard in place of the previous beige.
- Caboose had a major redesign, with a pork pie hat and red pinstripes on his now navy coloured base. The neckerchief recoloured black, a chain necklace being added, and his skates changed to an ankle-height red.
- Espresso was recoloured to bright and bold half and half red and green fabrics.
- Gang costumes were minorly recoloured and finally saw the removal of the confederate flag featured centrally on the chestpiece
All the makeup designs were dramatically softened, with minimal use of vivid colours and strong geometric shapes.
Cast And Creatives[]
Creative Team[]
link[2]
- Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
- Design by John Napier
- Direction and choreography by Arlene Phillips
- Assistant Director/Choreographer Ruthie Stephens (Mykal Rand from August 2019)
- Assistant Director Steven Rosso
- Assistant Choreographer Debbie Hearnden (Marc McFadyen from 2017)
- Musical Supervisor Graham Hurman
- Sound design by Gareth Owen
- Lighting by Rob Sinclair
- Video and projection design by Duncan McLean
- Skate Coach Michal Fraley (Andrew Millar from 2023-25)
- German text by Sabine Grohmann and Wolfgang Adenberg
- Orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber
2018 Cast[]
| Role | Performer | Role | Performer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rusty | Blake Patrick Anderson | Pearl | Georgina Hagen |
| Greaseball | Ben Carruthers | Dinah | Rose Ouellette |
| Mama | Reva Rice | Belle the Bar Car | Rochelle Sherona |
| Electra | Sjoerd van der Meer | Carrie | Veronika Hammer |
| Rocky 1 | Dewayne Adams | Coco | Clare Maynard |
| Rocky 2 | Garry Kessing | Espresso | Anthony Hughes |
| Rocky 3 | Lucy Glover | Ruhrgold | Will Luckett |
| Flat-Top | Darius James | Turnov | Luke Dowling |
| Dustin | Daniel Holley | Manga | Sheridan |
| Caboose | Daniel Ellison | Brexit | Anthony Cragg |
| Killerwatt | Huon Mackley | Trax | Joey Egan |
| Wrench | Aisha Numah | Trax | Etienne Vogel |
| Joule | Amy Barker | Trax | Jeremy Suarez Jimenez |
| Volta | Anthony Starr | ||
| Swing | Gemma Archer | Swing | Bianca Atalaya |
| Swing | Lacy Jordinson | Swing | Danielle Lockwood |
| Swing | Carla Pullen | Swing | Sian Jones |
| Swing | David Brown | Swing | Daniel Joey |
| Swing | Marc McFadyen | Swing | Andrew Millar |
| Swing | Tom Nihill | Swing | George Olney |
| Swing | Stuart Rouse | Swing | Paul Shipp |
| Swing | Dennis Spee | Greaseball/
Electra Cover |
Richard Woodford |
Additional cast February 2019:
- Jeffrey Socia as Greaseball / Electra cover (due to Richard Woodford medical absence)
- Paddy Joe Martin
Further Cast and Galleries[]
Cast information and extensive photo galleries are found on each year's page.
Current 2025 Cast[]
Rehearsals began 4th February 2025.
The first performance of this cast was 28th May 2025, with the last performance planned for Sunday 31st May 2026.
| Role | Performer | Role | Performer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rusty | Max Luca Maus | Pearl | Farah Liss |
| Greaseball | Robert Colvin | Dinah | Poppy Blackledge |
| Mama | Reva Rice | Belle the Bar Car | Molly McGuire |
| Electra | Duncan Earlam | Carrie the Luggage Van | Claudia Luzzi |
| Rocky 1 | Edwin Cheng | Coco | Melanie Dull |
| Rocky 2 | Rexford Boadu | Espresso | Óscar Fonseca |
| Rocky 3 | Ariane Ngassam | Ruhrgold | Owen Broughton |
| Flat-Top | James Aymon | Turnov | Zen Blythe |
| Dustin | Léon Ohrling | Manga | Kieran Lynch |
| Caboose | Daniel Ellison | Brexit | Daniel Walford |
| Killerwatt | Brandon James Williams | ||
| Wrench | Bethany Perry (May -Sept)
Luuk Hartog (Sept- Present) |
Trax | Tony Hoggan |
| Joule | Katriona Ramsay | Trax | Zak Aaron |
| Volta | Pablo Lopez Vizcaino | Trax | Joey Egan |
| Skate Coach
/Swing |
Brad Corben | Swing | Magdalena Wise |
| Swing | Joseph Mckenzie | Swing | Kevin Lisske |
| Swing | AJ Parsons | Swing | MJ Dylan |
| Swing | Luke Stone | Swing | Puk Elzakkers |
| Swing | Eddylia Osborne | Swing | Brooke Magee |
| Swing | Paolo Valenti | Swing | Bethany Perry (Post Sept) |
| Swing | Ida Swann | Cover Momma | Maria Jane Hyde |
| Swing | Jonathan Petersohn | ||
Press[]
At the 2018 annual "open day[3]" the theatre offered free show tickets to children dressed in the new costume designs, and half-price tickets for adults in the new costumes.
References[]
- ↑ Variety.com Audio Interview, October 2021
- ↑ Creative Team, September 2025 (archived)
- ↑ Facebook Post, 20th August 2018
| Bochum, Germany 1988 - Present |
|---|
| Original Production - StEx 2018 Music |