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Starlight Express: Difference between revisions
Rewrote description to break up the Wall of Text effect and fix some hard-to-read sentences.
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (→This show includes examples of:: Minor link fixes, punctuation.) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (Rewrote description to break up the Wall of Text effect and fix some hard-to-read sentences.) |
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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 1970s -- among them, a musical version of ''The Little Engine That Could'' and a new version of
The protagonist of the story is Rusty, a hard-working young steam engine and [[Butt Monkey]] of the rail yard in which he works, who's constantly mocked by the [[Jerk Jock]] diesel engine Greaseball. Rusty has a big crush on Pearl, the pretty observation car, but Pearl has impossibly high standards for the engine of her dreams, and Rusty doesn't cut it as far as she's concerned.
The bigger, stronger engines are all gearing up for a big race to prove who's the best around, and Greaseball is the reigning champion, with his girlfriend Dinah the dining car as his racing mate
At the start of the second act, the other engines -- particularly the arrogant Electra -- object to Rusty's presence in the next qualifier for the final race
Soon afterward, it's revealed that C.B. is actually [[Ax Crazy]], and he summons Greaseball and Electra to inform them he's planning on racing as Rusty's partner just to wipe him out before the final -- just as C.B.'s done with virtually every engine he's ever paired with. C.B. makes sure Rusty loses and shows his true colors when Rusty confronts him over it, mocking him viciously for being "no engine". The box cars Rusty goes to try to vent his anger to just tell him that it's not worth trying to win, because it's a [[Crapsack World]] where only cheaters prosper and it's now too late for Rusty to even cheat.
The show has gone through several changes over the years. In 1994, the London production got a major overhaul- adding a lot more emphasis on Pearl, eliminating C.B. and Belle, and having Electra also crash in the end and promise to convert to steam. These changes were ''not'' popular with the fandom at large. The American productions, meanwhile, maintained C.B. at least but made the female characters' costumes extremely [[Stripperiffic]] and still decided to make Electra share in Greaseball and C.B.'s comeuppance in the end, depriving him of an ''epic'' [[Villainous Breakdown]] in the process. The closest to the original production still running is the Bochum, Germany production, which nevertheless features the altered ending for Electra and no Belle, as well as elements from the late London and U.K. tour versions.▼
Alone, broken and totally discouraged, Rusty suddenly receives a visitation from [[God|the Starlight Express]], who tells him that he has the power within him to achieve whatever he wants if he believes in himself. Inspired, and joined by Dustin, a freight hopper who saw the Starlight as well, Rusty pulls himself together in time for the final. A dissatisfied Dinah announces that she's had it with Electra's lack of interest in her and leaves the race before it starts, prompting Electra to ask C.B. to race with him.
To the general public, this show is mostly famous for being performed entirely on roller skates, giving the anthropomorphic train characters the ability to move as smoothly as a real train would. Within its own fandom, however, it's known for a ''startling'' amount of [[Broken Aesop|broken]] and [[Family Unfriendly Aesop|Family Unfriendly Aesops]] and dark themes in what's supposedly a musical for all the family.▼
In the final, Pearl tries to help Rusty after Greaseball punches him, and Greaseball responds by disconnecting her at high speed. Rusty saves her, while Electra catches wise to C.B.'s ambition to add a flashy electric engine to his death toll and disconnects him as well. C.B. and Greaseball crash into each other, Electra loses time in uncoupling C.B. and comes in second, and Rusty wins the race. He leaves immediately afterward to make sure Pearl's okay, and finds her alone and regretting that she never realized that she really loved Rusty all along. They end up together, while C.B. and Greaseball lament that their cheating ways have literally wrecked them. Electra throws a fit at coming in second and leaves the railyard forever. Greaseball promises to turn over a new leaf by being converted to steam and takes the forgiving Dinah back, and all of the engines and cars say they have now seen "the light at the end of the tunnel".
▲The show has gone through several changes over the years. In 1994, the London production got a major overhaul -- adding a lot more emphasis on Pearl, eliminating C.B. and Belle, and having Electra also crash in the end and promise to convert to steam. These changes were ''not'' popular with the fandom at large. The American productions, meanwhile, maintained C.B. at least but made the female characters' costumes extremely [[Stripperiffic]] and still decided to make Electra share in Greaseball and C.B.'s comeuppance in the end, depriving him of an ''epic'' [[Villainous Breakdown]] in the process. The closest production to the original
▲To the general public, this show is mostly famous for being performed entirely on roller skates, giving the anthropomorphic train characters the ability to move as smoothly as a real train would. Within its own fandom, however, it's known for a ''startling'' amount of [[Broken Aesop|broken]] and [[Family Unfriendly Aesop|
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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''. Even ''[[God]]'' is a train.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: C.B.
* [[Badass Biker]]: Greaseball's character design is based on this trope.
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* [[Costume Porn]]: [http://bellesdomain.co.uk/stexchars.htm Here] is a prodigiously large directory of photographs of each character in costume. Go wild.
* [[Crapsack World]]: All productions contain aspects of this, but it was most obvious in the original London version. (The comparatively more lighthearted London revamp turned the setting into a [[Crap Saccharine World]], as did its Broadway predecessor.) The dystopic nature of the setting is the subject of the Rockies'/Hip Hoppers' number "Right Place, Right Time."
* [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]]: The Starlight Express is basically the train version of [[God]].
* [[Cut Song]]: ''Several'', including some that were necessary for the plot. See the [[Cut Song]] page for more details.
* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: Pearl, depending on how she's played. This might be a rather charitable assessment of the character.
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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?"]]
* [[Fridge Horror]]: Finding out the truth about [[
* [[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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