Starlight Express the Musical Wiki
Starlight Express the Musical Wiki
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Duvay replaced Ashley in the 2nd UK Tour and its revival in Asia (2012-2013). As a sleeping car, she tries her best to stay awake during the show.

Personality[]

She appears to have much the same characteristics as Ashley, as little to no dialogue was changed for her character. The only slight change to her onstage appearance was rather than being relaxed and laid-back, she was so chilled out she was almost asleep.

Tickovers: Duvay's tickovers include yawning and stretching; resting one hand on her head; and plumping her head-pillows.

Story[]

Duvay is part of the passenger train, she is friends with Pearl, Dinah and Buffy. We first meet her as Rusty fetches the coaches, and are introduced to them in "Whole Lotta Locomotion". Then the Freight train arrives, and Duvay argues with the heavy goods vehicles. She is moderately impressed by Electra in AC/DC, but clearly loves to rock'n'roll with Greaseball in Pumping Iron. Duvay agrees to race with Turnov, before joining her friends playing along with Rusty in Crazy.

Duvay and Turnov race in Heat 2, Duvay appearing in a race mask. The race doesn't go well - Duvay realises just in time that Turnov has taken a wrong turning, and disconnects just before he dives over the edge. She safely returns to her friends, and is seen in Laughing Stock and The Rap. She and Buffy do their best to pick up the disconsolate Dinah, who is heartbroken and "UNCOUPLED". Duvay and Buffy take a moment in the spotlight in "Girls' Rolling Stock" as they encourage their friend to fight back, and show him what he's missing, but frustratingly Dinah is still hung up on Greaseball despite agreeing to race with Electra. By the end of the final race, Duvay is as overjoyed as almost everyone else to see Rusty and Pearl finally together, and the Race Night ends on a joyful note with a "Light at the End of the Tunnel"!

Appearance[]

Duvay's costume is only very slightly altered from Ashley's - she has a headdress intended to resemble pillows (not poptarts!) and the sign on her necklace that traditionally reads "Smoking" now reads "Sleeper". Before her race, she removes her headdress as she puts on her race mask, due to continuity with the filmed races.

Many of the features of Ashley's costume are also appropriate for a sleeping car - she has fine wooden marquetry on her bodice and shoulders, curtains with tassel trim for her skirt. Her bust decoration is less reminiscent of ash trays than in other interpretations of her costume, and evokes further wooden panelling. Lacking the context of the smoking car, her colour palette of Tobacco browns can be interpreted as finely polished wooden interiors.

Gallery[]

Photo gallery


History[]

Duvay is, to all intents and purposes, Ashley in all but name. The theories behind her inclusion concern the political incorrectness of perhaps being seen to glamorise smoking, and the anachronistic element of having a smoking car, what with smoking having been banned on trains in the UK since 2005[1]. Sleepers, meanwhile, remain a feature of long train journeys.

Duvay never featured in the German production, and was removed from the English-language version at the 2017 workshop.


Cast[]

UK Tour 2012-2013

2012 - 2013 Kelsey Cobban
Asia 2013 Kelsey Cobban

Fan Theories[]

See Here for Fan theories about Duvay.

References[]

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