On Wednesday 20th
April 2005 Starlight Express celebrated its 21st
Birthday. Now billed
as Starlight Express ‘The 3rd dimension’ it is
partway through its first UK tour.
Those of us who saw the show
in its London home, the purposely adapted, Apollo Victoria Theatre
never thought it would close, or that it could actually tour.
The 21st
anniversary cast is extremely talented, between there expertise on
roller-skates, there vocal abilities and the ease with which they
mix the two together singing and moving at the same time. It is
enough to leave the audience exhilarated yet exhausted!
Each individual character gets the opportunity to display
his or her talents throughout.
I shouldn’t pick out
individual characters, but as the underdog and romantic lead, James
Gillan as Rusty, the youngest steam engine on the track is very
appealing and his singing blends and complements both Jane Horn as
Pearl, the new observation car, and Anton Stephans as Poppa.
James’s voice is a pleasure to listen to and the fact that he is
Scottish isn’t as obvious as it might be. He and Pearl sing the
love duet “Only He” beautifully.
One of my personal markers of this show is how the
“Starlight Sequence” goes and I admit to having goose-bumps
whilst listening to James and Anton.
Tom Kanavan as Greaseball is
a little more self-assured as the other characters I’ve seen him
perform. His all round talents bring other aspects to the part and
I almost fell for his hunky chauvinistic charms.
Mykal Rand’s Electra is
both magnetic and shocking, the voice is superb and the skating
talents could rival Torville and Dean. He was one of the most
talked about characters in the show.
Tanya Robb, as Dinah the
Dining Car is Greaseball’s greatest fan and is devastated to be
U N C O U P L E D! Her
close friends Amy Field as Ashley, one of the last remaining
Smoking Cars and Ashley Hale as Buffy the Buffet Car all tease
Rusty for wanting to try to win the race.
The set has several
adaptations and the races are presented in a very 21st
Century way, by using 3D movie techniques. You are warned when to
put on the glasses which help the 3D images.
The nine musicians are
hidden from site with only Graham Hurman the musical director
visible on two or three TV screens strategically placed round the
stage. The resident
director Rebecca Trelease has a wealth of theatrical experience in
the UK and in Europe and uses this experience in keeping this
exuberant bunch in order.
Try and experience this show
at least twice if you can, once beside the stage and if possible
once further back or from an upper level.
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