The complete cast is set for the London return of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express. The musical about sentient trains begins performances at the specially designed Starlight Auditorium at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre on June 8.
Getting their skates on will be Jeevan Braich as Rusty, Kayna Montecillo as Pearl, Jade Marvin as Momma McCoy, Al Knott as Greaseball, Eve Humphrey as Dinah and Tom Pigram as Electra. The new production is directed by Luke Sheppard with choreography by Ashley Nottingham. The creative team also includes set designer Tim Hatley, video designer Andrzej Goulding, costume designer Gabriella Slade, lighting designer Howard Hudson and sound designer Gareth Owen. New orchestrations are by Matthew Brind with musical supervision by Brind and David Wilson and musical direction by Laura Bangay.
Starlight Express premiered in the West End in 1984 and opened on Broadway in 1987. With music by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, the musical features the numbers “AC/DC,” “Make Up My Heart,” “Light at the End of the Tunnel” and the title track. As a child’s train set magically comes to life and the engines race to become the fastest in the world, Rusty the steam train has little hope of winning until he is inspired by the legend of the Starlight Express.