[spendleb]

Off to see the tour tomorrow in Bradford, has anyone been to this tour? Any good? Not sure if I am looking forward to it or not, it's never been one I have wanted to see.

[link-larkin]

I went to see Starlight Express in Bradford on Monday evening. I have been meaning to post saying how excellent the tour is.

This production contains a mix of numbers from the original 1984 and re-worked 1992 productions. Plus an additional lyricist David Yazbek has re-written 'A Lotta Locomotion' renaming it 'A Whole Lotta Locomotion' giving it a modern twist. He has also written a new number 'Laughing Stock' and tweaked the existing numbers here and there. Now in this third version of the production, I think it now has just the right blend of all the musical numbers, written for Starlight over the years.

I really wish they'd record a new cast album of the touring show, as the production has changed quite a bit.

The cast are just marvellous and so talented. Kristofer Harding's Rusty is the best I've ever seen it played, with just the right mix of emotion and naivety making the character so lovable.

Even without the huge sets of the west end production - the chorography and the lighting design make up for it. Also the 3D racing sequences makes the show tour-able, whilst using new technology to give the show that '3rd dimension'.

I'd recommend this tour to everyone - it's defiantly a must see, even if you've seen it before.

I hope that in the next few years this production will find its way back to London. But what with the west end being so populated with musicals they will probably just continue touring - bringing the magic of Starlight Express to everyone.

[Evie]

Yeah I saw it in Norwich and absoltuely loved it! I went back to see it again!
Hoepfully you'll enjoy it too,
Evie
x x x

[Mark_E]

The cast are just marvellous and so talented. Kristofer Harding's Rusty is the best I've ever seen it played, with just the right mix of emotion and naivety making the character so lovable.

I'll 100% agree, Kris Harding is amazing as Rusty.
The guy playing Poppa also has the most amazing voice.

[Belle]

Being a Starlight fan, I'm far more skeptical about this tour. They've got a FANTASTIC cast, who make the show well worth seeing! And if you're not comparing this production to any others, you'll have a great time.

But - compared to the London production, or the hugely successful German production, the tour is so small, short, shallow, cheap... Of course there's restrictions on what set can be toured, but those restrictions don't call for the lack of plot and major songs being cut out, or the lack of investment in the costumes! I find it incredibly frustrating as the tour could easily be much better than it is. If more were asked of the performers, they could provide it easily. The entire cast are stars!

[link-larkin]

But - compared to the London production, or the hugely successful German production, the tour is so small, short, shallow, cheap... Of course there's restrictions on what set can be toured, but those restrictions don't call for the lack of plot and major songs being cut out, or the lack of investment in the costumes! I find it incredibly frustrating as the tour could easily be much better than it is. If more were asked of the performers, they could provide it easily. The entire cast are stars!

Sadly as I guess you know tours of west end musicals are normally never as good as when they are in London. They never spend as much money on the set or indeed the costumes. Instead they seem to replace this with a more impressive lighting design, which in the case of Starlight Express works very effectively.

I guess the cuts to the plot and numbers are to make the show more presentable for a modern day audience and so it doesn't run on too long. I'd say the basic plot from is still intact but as you say Belle a lot of ideas from the London production just seems to have been phased out.

[Belle]

Trouble is - the Cats tour is every bit the same high quality as the West End production was - they're short 2/3 characters, but it works, and the costumes and wigs, and every other aspect of the production, is top notch! Of course Cats does tour a lot more easily than Starlight, but there's no reason tours are automatically second rate to the West End.

The plot and song cuts are to make it cheaper - with characters like Caboose, Ashley and Buffy lacking their spotlight numbers, the cast members are ensemble, not principal roles, therefore paid less. Yes, paying the cast less is more important than telling the story to the audience.

[Daniel100]

Trouble is - the Cats tour is every bit the same high quality as the West End production was - they're short 2/3 characters, but it works, and the costumes and wigs, and every other aspect of the production, is top notch! Of course Cats does tour a lot more easily than Starlight, but there's no reason tours are automatically second rate to the West End.

The plot and song cuts are to make it cheaper - with characters like Caboose, Ashley and Buffy lacking their spotlight numbers, the cast members are ensemble, not principal roles, therefore paid less. Yes, paying the cast less is more important than telling the story to the audience.

So how come they don't mind incuring the costs for Cats but they do for Starlight?
As far as I know they are both David Ian for Live Nation BSPW RUG, so why hence the difference?

[Belle]

So how come they don't mind incuring the costs for Cats but they do for Starlight?
As far as I know they are both David Ian for Live Nation BSPW RUG, so why hence the difference?

That's a very, very good question.

Cats and Starlight have been very close throughout their productions... The london productions were financially linked. (it's no coincidence that Starlight closed on the 12th January 2002, and Cats announced its closing on the 14th). But I guess Starlight is always gonna be second, where Cats is first. Cats has more clout, more kudos. It's a ground-breaking piece of musical theatre, whereas Starlight is roller-skating trains. However, AFAIK the box office for Starlight is actually stronger. Theatre critics don't like the show but the people do. It's clear that the producers for the UK tour of Starlight are very concerned about making a profit, and not so worried about investing in the production - perhaps they consider that Cats is art, but Starlight is a cash cow?

It's very disheartening to watch and miss the material cut just to save money, when to all appearances the tour is very successful and could afford slightly higher wages, which would have the knock-on effect of vastly improving the story-telling!

[spendleb]

I went to see it on Thursday and it was brilliant, a lot better than I expected with some amazing singers/talented skaters, just wish I could have seen it when the track came into the audience instead of the 3D filmed race scenes.