Starlight Express: Difference between revisions
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[[File:StarlightLogo.jpg|thumb|310px]]
After the success of ''[[Cats]]'' in 1981, [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] began looking into writing a musical based on the ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' stories, with his kids in mind, but couldn't get the amount of creative control he wanted. Instead, he pulled up a few older ideas he'd had proposed to him in the
In the story, a child’s train set magically comes to life and the various engines compete to become the "Fastest engine in the World!" The underdog, Rusty the Steam train, has little chance until he is inspired by the legend of the "Starlight Express" and ultimately defeats his arch-rivals Greaseball and Electra before going on to win the hand of the lovely first class coach, Pearl.<ref>From the [[wikipedia:Starlight Express|Wikipedia article.]]</ref>
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* [[The Ace]]: Electra. So, so much.
* [[Ambiguous Gender]]: Whether Wrench is male or female depends on the casting. The character was ''usually'' female in London. The Bochum version muddies the waters.
* [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]: All of them -- of ''trains''.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: C.B.
* [[Bad Girl Song]]: Depending on the version, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F50f76_CdIU "A Lotta Locomotion"] has elements of this: except for Dinah, who establishes herself as a wholesome, hardworking waitress, the coaches characterize themselves in terms of the vices they enjoy. ("A Whole Lotta Locomotion," however, is a [[Chorus Girls]] song.)▼
* [[Badass Biker]]: Greaseball's character design is based on this trope.
▲* [[Bad Girl Song]]: Depending on the version, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F50f76_CdIU "A Lotta Locomotion"] has elements of this: except for Dinah, who establishes herself as a wholesome, hardworking waitress, the coaches characterize themselves in terms of the vices they enjoy. ("A Whole Lotta Locomotion," however, is a [[Chorus Girls]] song.)
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: C.B. again. Holy ''fuck'', C.B. A cute little caboose with a [[Tenor Boy]] voice, whose costume and makeup seem designed to make him just look like a cheery little tin soldier, turns out to be a giddy [[Serial Killer]] who enjoys crashing the trains he's assigned to [[For the Evulz|''just for fun'']] and has the only real, genuine [[Villain Song]] in the whole thing. Greaseball's a [[Jerkass]], Electra's an arrogant diva, but neither of them is anywhere near as scary as C.B.
* [[Bi the Way]]: Electra, who has devoted groupies [[Even the Guys Want Him|of both sexes]] and proclaims himself to be "AC/DC".
* [[Bowdlerise]]: The current version of the German translation removed many of the [[Double Entendre]]s.
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** The Broadway adaptation of the show rewrote "Belle the Sleeping Car" to emphasize Belle's career as a prostitute, which would ordinarily be the opposite of this trope...except that the Broadway version removed some drug references and greatly increased the comedic factor of the character, rather than portraying her as the resigned, despondent old woman she was in the London show. [http://bellesdomain.co.uk/belle.htm See this link to contrast the two.]
** The 1992 London revamp excised the C.B., who provided the catalyst for most of the conflict in act two. Ironically, the rewritten reversal was more violent than before.
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* [[Final Love Duet]]: "Only You" in the original London production, Las Vegas, and all the tours. "Next Time You Fall In Love" in the revamped London version.
* [[Four-Girl Ensemble]]: Ashley is the [[Cool Big Sis]], Buffy is the closest to [[The Ladette]], Dinah borders on [[The Ditz]], and Pearl... well, when asked what she plans on doing, she responds [[Really Gets Around|"Whaddya think?"]]
* [[Funny Foreigner]]: While the international engines are all presented as being extremely representative of their countries, only Bobo the TGV crosses into this category.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: So, ''so'' much.
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