Starlight Express: Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'more preposterously OTT' than original
'Head-spinning' show about roller-skating trains is a lot of fun

Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Starlight Express" is back, four decades after making its West End debut.
Critics may have "sneered" at the show in the past for "lacking sophistication", and admittedly Richard Stilgoe's lyrics can be as "bland as an old British Rail sandwich", said Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph. But director Luke Sheppard and his team have conjured a "head-spinning wonderland", infused with "magic and life-affirming meaning".
The gleaming revival is "bigger, camper and more preposterously OTT" than the 1984 original, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. Yet somehow, this "bizarre juggernaut" "pulls it off".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It begins, "gently enough", with a child called Control playing with trains before drifting off to sleep. What follows, said Tim Bano in The Independent, is a "two-and-a-half-hour neon fever dream" where roller-skating trains in "iridescent costumes" zip around the stage. The audience is "rooting" for Rusty (Jeevan Braich) – an old steam engine who competes with rivals Greaseball and Electra in the hopes of impressing observation car Pearl.
The show has been given some "substantial" updates. In the context of the intensifying climate crisis, a new character, Hydra, has been added as "our hero's helper", teaming up with Rusty and persuading him to use hydrogen to win the race and be crowned fastest engine in the world.
"Nobody looks even slightly like a train," said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. But it's a "tremendous thrill" having the cast "whistle past you at high velocity" and "frankly it's a lot of fun". While it is "technically dazzling", I couldn't help but wonder why Sheppard's production couldn't have "a better story, characters to actually care about, or basic internal coherence".
The "wafer-thin" characters leave you longing for more personality, agreed David Benedict in Variety, and the new songs "add little". One of the high points, though, is Howard Hudson's skilful lighting which "ignites and punctuates everything": lasers, pulsing lights and "intense washes of turquoise and purple" give the show a thrumming energy.
This works in tandem with the "amazing" video design which transports you "inside a feverish child's mind", added Bano in The Independent. "To be frank, it often sounds like a child has written the music and lyrics too". It certainly isn't Lloyd Webber's finest score. But ultimately it doesn't really matter: more "spectacle than sense", "Starlight Express" is an "extraordinary creative onslaught" designed to "delight your inner child – which it really does".
Starlight Express is at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, London, until June 2025.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
How to make music part of your vacation
Let the rhythm move you
-
What is credit card churning and why is it risky?
the explainer Churners frequently open new credit cards with the intent of earning a welcome bonus and accessing other perks
-
Feel the groove with these music-centric getaways across the globe
Let the rhythm move you
-
5 high-concept animated science fiction shows for grown-ups
The Week Recommends How filmmakers are using a different medium to bring visionary science fiction to life
-
See the bright lights from these 7 big-city hotels
The Week Recommends Immerse yourself in culture, history and nightlife
-
8 recipes that require minimal effort for the best kind of summer eating
The Week Recommends It's the season of grilling and smart desserts
-
7 places across the country to experience the best of summer drinking
The Week Recommends Stops include a Basque-inspired spot and a bar where the menu overhauls twice a year
-
6 smart, surprising food books to drag you through the summer months
The Week Recommends BBQ and why we consume the way we do are just two of the tackled topics
-
Hot for summer with these 10 tours from some of music's best artists
The Week Recommends Get ready for sing-along sunshine
-
10 upcoming albums to stream on the beach this summer
The Week Recommends Ring in the sunshine with a selection of new albums