Starlight Express in Bochum

I hardly ever look at the International section of the board, and the one time I do I immediately find myself out of pocket by almost €200, and that's before even thinking about flights, trains, hotel!

The internet really is dangerous.

Sounds like another meet up might take place that day

I'll be seeing the show next month, I'll report back. But I expect "Für Immer" to still be in it along with all the other ear-curlingly awful changes.

Haha Precisely! The music is a bit repetitive but very catchy and builds nicely. In German it sounds great. In English it's just a completely awful song

I returned to Starlight Express after a very long absence last evening, so since I know quite a few of you are making the trip over next month for the English performance, I thought I'd share a few thoughts here. Let me start with the good bits straightaway: The show still feels fresh and is in good shape - you wouldn't know that it's been going on for 28 years now. It helps that they have assembled a young new cast - the only name familiar to me at all was Carla Pullen (Pearl) who's been in and out of the show for some years now but still did a great job. Current Rusty is a young American performer, Jeffrey Socia, who's just the kind of fresh-faced sweet guy you need for the part. Greaseball and Electra were played by understudies, so you probably won't see these guys, but personally I was very taken with Dewayne Adams (Greaseball), a VERY good-looking young chap who I hope will resurface in London at some point. I can't really nitpick at the performances the way I would have done during my fan days about 20-25 year ago, but personally I didn't see a single weak link in the cast.

Understanding anyone has been as bad as it always has been (I notice this mostly with the new songs where I don't know the lyrics inside out) but that won't be a problem for you guys anyway and I think it has never really mattered in this show anyway.

A lot of whimsical little things have been introduced/added through the years, most of which were pointless (sparks flying from Greaseball's skates? The "stunt skaters" on inline skates?!) but don't detract either. One lovely thing that stood out to me was that during Starlight Express and I am the Starlight, the whole theatre ceiling is now covered in twinkly stars.

The bad bits: I had seen it last after a few new things had been introduced and more new things had been added in the meantime and all of them seem incredibly pointless. Why replace "Engine of Love" with "Call me Rusty", why cut the charming little ballad "There's me", what exactly does "Crazy" add to the show and most importantly: Why the heck replace "Only you" with two inferior songs (first "Next time you fall in love" now "I do/Fuer immer")? It was a good old-fashioned ALW power ballad and neither of the new songs come even close to it. "Fuer Immer" is typical German schlager sound, so it was probably written consciously with the German audience in mind and it's not a BAD song, it's just not as good as "Only you" in my book.

I was stunned by the small band that came up to take their bows at the end - I counted ten people, whereas I remember an orchestra with twice that number back in the day. It certainly accounted for the somewhat tinny overamplified sound.

It wasn't sold out by far - I'd say one-fifth to one quarter of seats were unsold, but considering it was a Sunday evening and the show has been going on forever, that's certainly not bad and it's still selling better than many Stage Entertainment shows in their first year.

The programmes/brochures are a joy at 9 Euro with many large colour photos.

Lastly: You are officially allowed (even invited) to film the "Megamix" at the end, so make sure your phone is charged and ready.

My wish? Go full circle for the 30th birthday and return to either the original Bochum version or the original London version with Belle the Sleeping Car and the power ballad Only he. But either way I'm starting to think that this show will possibly outlive me. It's still selling well and it's in good shape.

From my much older and much more experienced vantage point it is a bit of a silly mawkish show you shouldn't look too deeply into, but it's still a hell of a lot more entertaining than most of Stage Entertainment's overpriced shows around here. And if you stop for a moment to consider just how ground-breaking the show was when it first opened in 1984, how insane the whole concept of roller-skating trains sounds on paper, I think ALW deserves some kudos for having had the guts to go through with this thing. It was still so much more of a risk and crazy idea than the carefully crafted commercial entertainment shows that start life in board rooms rather than a composer's imagination these days. So, long may the Starlight Express roll on.

That's what I meant - "Only you" was the old song that was first replaced by "Next Time You Fall in Love" (in London during the big revamp and then sometime later in Bochum as well)  and then "Next Time you fall in love" was in turn replaced by "I do" in Bochum. So Rusty and Pearl have gone through three different duets by now and I still think "Only you" was by far the best and should be re-introduced. Sorry if my phrasing was off, I wrote that long review around 3am after the show when I couldn't sleep. 

My personal guess is that the "one-off English show" is a test to see if there's demand for this.  They keep tweaking and changing the show every few years, probably in the hope that the fans will keep returning to see each "new" version.  So there could/should be demand to see the show in its original language as well, especially as there hasn't been a London production for some time  (back in my fan days, I could still see it in London in English) and about 90% of the cast are British now anyway.  Since I had already planned and booked this nostalgia trip a long while ago and went with a bunch of people including two whose English is meh at best, I didn't want to return this quickly, but I would certainly be tempted to see it in English some day. 

On another note, they are now flogging the old chairs from the theatre as new chairs are being put in for the 30th anniversary. One chair costs 30 Euro. But before anyone gets excited: You must pick your chair up in person in Bochum.  And take it home somehow.  And yes, I have bought one.  I will have to go and pick it up in March, which gives me time to figure out where I would find a space for it in my small flat. 

We are nothing if not a city of deprived sex acts. 

Do you mean depraved sex acts, or are they just disappointing?

Hello everyone,

I'm going to see the English performance of this and will be writing about it for a UK national newspaper. I wondered if there were any other UK Starlight Fans going over to see it who I might be able to speak to?

Let me know!

we'll see!

So who's seeing this on Tuesday?

Yup, I'll be there :-)