Starlight Express: Difference between revisions

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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>

* [[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.

* [[Bowdlerise]]: The current version of the German translation removed many of the [[Double Entendre]]s.

** In all twentieth-century versions of ''Starlight Express'', Ashley carried a pack of cigarettes and frequently mimed smoking them. The second U.S. tour made her a smoking car [[In Name Only]] and heavily implied that she'd turned to promiscuous sex instead, which would be fine if it hadn't been presented in the sleaziest manner possible.

** 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.

* [[Broken Aesop]]: According to the finale, electricity and diesel fuel will eventually run out, but somehow steam power is sustainable. What exactly are we burning to get this magical steam? Also (presumably) coal burning steam engines are better than environmentally friendly options like solar and nuclear power. This last one may be because it was written in the 1980's.

** [[Brick Joke|Subverted]] once everyone shouts: "Shut it, control!!"

* [[Cool Train]]: Most of the characters.

* [[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]].

* [[The Eleven O'Clock Number]]: "One Rock & Roll Too Many".

* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]: A disproportionate amount of ''Starlight Express'' fan art and fan fiction centers on Electra's components, who are tertiary when compared to most of the cast.

* [[The Fifties]]: Greaseball's entire shtick is a combination of this and [[The Eighties]] (which, when the show first premiered, of course, was simply contemporary).

* [[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.

* [[Love Martyr]]: Dinah.

* [[Love Redeems]]: Pearl's original second-act solo "Only He" had her resolve to change her wayward ways and learn faithfulness after Rusty rescued her.

** And in some productions, the same actor plays the Starlight Express when it manifests to Rusty.

* [[Manly Gay]]: Some actors play Krupp this way.

* [[Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number]]: Three songs did this: First, there was the opening of Act 2, in which all the engines prepared for the big final race in the championship. In the West End production and the recent US tour, it was called "The Rap", and was rewritten three times, basically because the first one didn't really sound like rap. The second one, written in 1992, sounded a little more like rap, but the early period. In 2003, a new rap was written which more accurately represented the genre. For the 1987-1989 Broadway version exclusively, a new song was added as kind of a continuation to the "Freight" coda, which had electricity, steam, and diesel fighting against each other in contrapuntal song, which then led to the big races which would then end with one train winning the "Silver Dollar" (rather than the Champion of the World). The other song that falls in this category is "The Hymn To Victory" which has been in every production since. This is another continuation of the aforementioned "Freight" Coda, with everyone raising their voices in an even louder, earth-shaking chorale, with a massive High C from Rusty. Here, this song is sung [[The Song Before the Storm|before the final heat, specially prepared on a downhill course.]] Rusty joined in the singing, even though he was disqualified from the final, so you can hear the [[Control Freak|Control's voice]] ordering for the Marshals to stop Rusty from entering the tracks, {{spoiler|but it is too late}}.

* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]]: The nature of the rivalry between Greaseball and Electra.

* [[Porn Stache]]: The actor who originated C.B. sported one, in keeping with his early "trucker" character design. Eventually, the character was redesigned into the aforementioned "tin soldier", which fit his [[Tenor Boy|voice type]] better.

* [[Psycho Lesbian]]: Wrench, according to most of the fandom. It doesn't help that in the German production, Wrench is considered ''so'' butch that her first understudy is a ''man''.

* [[Sentient Vehicle]]

* [[Sissy Villain]]: Electra is Rusty's Sissy ''Rival'', to contrast with the ultra-macho Greaseball.

* [[Something Blues]]: "Poppa's Blues".

* [[Spelling Song]]: "U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.".

{{quote|''Diesel is for unbelievers

''Electricity is wrong

* [[Stripperiffic]]: The carriages' costumes in the Las Vegas production, as well as the U.S., U.K., and New Zealand tours.

** It doesn't help that the US tour ''reused'' the Las Vegas costumes until they literally fell apart.

[[Category:Starlight Express]]

[[Category:Theatrical Productions]]