The rock critic Lester Bangs used to defend his preference for the trashier end of the pop culture spectrum by arguing that rock musicians who think they are poets usually end up sounding like buffoons while those who know they are buffoons are sometimes capable of great poetry.

The insight is useful when approaching Starlight Express, which is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s second-most popular musical and probably the most critically maligned. [More] 
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What a vivid imagination! After playing with his train set a nine year old boy (unseen, with an American voice*) sleeps and dreams up a roller-skating rolling-stock storm in which he is The Controller. A control-freak train geek no less, but too creative, probably, to don an anorak in later years and spot trains from a trunk line over-bridge.

It’s a Cinderella set-up in essence but – being a boy’s story – it is primarily focused on a race between trains from different nations. The loco-contenders are all male while most of the service cars that hitch up for the ride are female, which is where the love interest comes in. France, Russia, Italy, Germany and Japan are represented. And the British train is late (nice gag).

The reigning champion is Greaseball (NZ-born Matthew Cutts), the Elvis-like rock ‘n’ rollin’ diesel from the USA, whose hanger-on is Dinah (Torum Heng, NZ) the dining car, and he treats her bad. Little old Rusty (Jamie Golding, UK), a steam engine of no fixed abode*, is laughed at for thinking he could win but he feels he has to, to win the affection of Pearl (Rebecca Wright, NZ) the observation car.

But Rusty is no match for Electra (Mykal Rand, UK), the brand new state-of-the-art AC/DC electric loco, whose location nation-wise is also obscure, although his red-white-and-blue plumage could suggest UK, USA or France. Actually at this point what seemed like important questions of nationality pretty well become irrelevant.

In summary: steam (Rusty) is Cinders to the Ugly Sisters diesel (Greaseball) and electricity (Electra) while Pearl is the beautiful Princess and desirable prize. We all know how it is going to end so the plot is contrived to put lots of obstacles in Rusty’s way – and to set up cues for a range of song and choreographed skating routine, of course. Old Poppa (Lothair Eaton, USA), another steam engine, is not so much the fairy godfather as the facilitator for Rusty to draw on the power of the mythical Starlight Express itself to build up a head of self-esteem …

Ever-evolving, this version builds on the revisions of 1992 that radically updated the first London (1984) and Broadway (1987) productions, musically, plot and production-wise. The most obvious change is that instead of the wrap-around auditorium runway, the races are screened as computer-enhanced film sequences (directed by Julian Napier). This brings into question the claim – in Lloyd Webber’s programme note and repeated in a pre-show announcement – that "Everything in Starlight is played and performed live."

Also new are the stunt skaters, Trax 1 (Matt King, UK) and Trax 2 (Leo Terris, NZ), who add to the spectacle by swooping and looping on the scooped ramps that flank John Napier’s thrust stage set design (tip: to fully appreciate the visual effect, avoid the stalls which – as we discovered – are too low to allow a view of the stage surface).

The music, splendidly played by the unseen band (MD: Michael Nicholas Williams, NZ), is mostly disco pop – Rusty’s ‘Starlight Express’ the high point – alleviated by the odd genre piece, like Pearl’s romantic ‘Make Up My Heart’ and her duet with Rusty, ‘Only He’; the company’s ‘It’s Race Time’ rap; Dinah’s country-styled ‘U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D’ and Poppa’s blues jazz-cum-gospel-song ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’.

The gender politics of Pearl’s ‘Only He’ are a bit of a worry initially – "Only he has the power to move me, take me, hold me, tend me, improve me" – until Rusty reciprocates with "Only she …" Otherwise the lyrics (by Richard Stilgoe; additional lyrics by David Yazbek) delight in child-like rhyming schemes and railway-oriented plays on words.

Strong, true voices carry the songs, marred just a couple of times by words dropping out on low notes at the end of phrases. Everyone grabs their opportunity to add to the spectacular whole in small groups and as an ensemble, making the rhythm and flow that took weeks to rehearse look easy, which is just as it should be.  

John Napier’s costume designs, Howard Eaton’s lighting and Paul Jeffrey’s sound design all enrich the thrill-a-thon of sound and movement, modulated to excellent dramatic effect by director and choreographer Arlene Phillips.

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* Andrew Lloyd Webber is English and so was the Rev W Awdry whose Railway Series books were the first inspiration (that’s where Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group got its name); the original show premiered in London where it ran for 7,406 performances; the Broadway season ran for only 761 performances; in 1988 a permanent production opened in Bochum, Germany, was re-jigged for cultural relevance and is still running … So why make the narrative voice – the boy – American? When did the Brits capitulate to this rampant cultural imperialism? Given the universality of boys loving trains and the international roll-call of trains on stage, the 9 year-old boy and his Controller persona should hail from wherever the production is staged, should he? Likewise, why not make Rusty from the boys own country too? Do not we have railways too? Any dispute?
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Pulling into the TSB Bank Arena "Station" is one of the most magical and spectacle trains ever to travel through the country.

This production for New Zealand audiences, which travels on to Christchurch and Auckland, is a sophisticated update of the production first performed in arenas throughout Scandinavia in 2007 and features a cast combining previous members from UK, US and German productions as well as young Kiwi talent, all performing on roller skates which has been the hall mark of this show since it first opened in London in 1984.

Loosely based on the Cinderella story, only with trains, the show and its songs have been revamped many times over the years but the main storyline remains the same, being similar in its theatrical concept to Cats in that it features performers in costume representing non-human characters.

And although one can be rather cynical about the saccharine storyline of how an underdog – the steam engine Rusty – comes out on top – purporting to show how love and hope can triumph in the face of adversity – there is no denying that the show has appeal for its sheer energy, creativity and originality.

As a young boy falls asleep his toy train set comes to life including Greaseball (Matthew Cutts), a diesel engine, Electra (Mykal Rand), an electric train and Rusty (Jamie Golding), a steam train.  As the boy drifts into dreamland he orders the trains into race mode.  Everyone gets revved up except Rusty who is sent to the sidings as nobody takes him seriously because they think he is slow and old fashioned.

Rusty’s in love with Pearl (Rebecca Wright), the observation car, so when Rusty decides to enter the race, he asks Pearl to race with him but she turns him down, deciding instead to race with Electra. Rusty turns to Poppa (Lothair Eaton), an ex-champion steam train who tells him about the "Starlight Express", a mythical midnight train who helps other trains in distress. Rusty calls upon the Starlight Express to help him and of course wins the race. 

With the majority of the stage thrust into the audience the cast of highly polished performers skate their way in and out, through and over the set to great effect aided considerably by superb lighting effects.  The costumes too are outstanding in both the details of their design and enhancement of character. 

While the songs may not be as memorable as those from other Andrew Lloyd Webber shows they are nevertheless catchy and lyrical.  In this production some of the stand out numbers is Rusty poignant Starlight Express, Dinah (Torum Heng), the diner waitress with her humorous Dolly Parton style rendition of the country and western U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D, Pearl and Rusty’s heartfelt love duet Only He and the rousing gospel finale Light at the End of the Tunnel. 

While it is probably impractical to revert to the original concept of having the actual races, there are 3, performed live by the performers on their skates, something better than the races shown as films on projection screens could have been devised.  But even though this may negate some of the spark that those who saw the original will remember, this is nevertheless a dazzling, high octane show that is surprisingly audible given the size of the venue and the amplification used and where the skill and technique of the performers is highly tuned so that on opening night there were very few spills or mishaps.
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