Orphans and Trains

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

For some reason, I didn't set an alarm last night, so when I woke up it was 10:30am.  Guess I needed to sleep

I got myself out of bed and head out the door.  I wanted to get a ticket for Oliver, so I headed to the theatre.  I got there and was told the box office didn't open until noon, so I ended up finding a coffee place, getting some coffee and buying a ticket online.  I then headed back to the direction of the theatre and began to write yesterdays blog.  

Oliver - definitely a British Classic, remains one of my favorite shows.  I've worked on several productions.  It's a hard show, believe it or not.  And while the title suggests that it's a lovely show for kids, it really is not.  I often wonder how the kids in the audience reacted to the adult themes in this show.  Particularly a murder. I'll leave that there in case any reader doesn't know the story, wouldn't want to give it away.  This particular production started life in 1994 at the London Palladium at the time where the English Mega-Musical was heading for a downturn.  Big sets, costumes, overly orchestrated score (still amazing) etc.  It was a big success in 1994.  However, it never came to the the US.  It may have played in Canada if my memory serves me correctly.  A production inspired by this production toured the US in 2023 - however, Broadway has never seen it.  I guess there are reasons that I won't bore anyone with - especially me -  but it's a pity that it hasn't graced the BROAD-way.  The Palladium production was revived in 2009 and now again in 2024.  There's a reason why it keeps coming back.... it's SO good.  For me, I think the hardest part of the show is the last 10 minutes.  Like any musical of its time, the plot is wrapped up in the last moments of the show, and in this case, there are many chases, 2 murders, and plot turns.  All underscored, which can be a musical directors nightmare.  However, it was very well done and executed just how it should be.  The show moves swiftly, it's sung well, acted well, etc.  This was a good choice.  I've always been curious about this production, it was worth the wait.

It's also quite long - as Oliver is and when it was over I looked at my watch and realized I had to hightail it out of that area to get to my next show.  Starlight Express,  which was in Wembley Park.  So I boarded the train - appropriately - and headed out.  Ugh... commute time.  That's all I'll say about THAT.  I got there in plenty of time for some dinner and much needed breathing time.

Starlight Express - what can I say?  When I heard the CD in 1991, I was like - "What the heck is this".  But it was Andrew Lloyd Webber.  And what I didn't know at the time as I was just getting into musical theatre and there wasn't the internet yet, was that I was totally  missing out on something special.  I was totally into the music and I remember in 1993, they re-vamped the show and some new music was released which was fantastic.  (still no internet)  I finally saw a production in 2004 - it was a touring production that played in San Jose.  I remember that we had 3D glasses to watch the race sequences on a screen.  You can imagine what a downer that was.  But the music was great, I can't remember the staging and looking back, I can't imagine how the show was staged for a tour.  When the London production opened in 1984 or so, there was a sit-down production that opened in Bochum, Germany - where a theatre was built especially for the production.  The design was much like the original London.  In 2014, on my first solo trip to Europe, I made a stop in Bochum just to see Starlight Express - I've been back 2 more times. Both times with my longtime friend, John, who's always had a love for the show (having seen the original in London) and has passed that love on to me for sure.  It didn't matter if the show was sung in German, it was still Starlight Express and if you didn't know the plot by now....  The German production has been tweeked several times, thus making it re-watchable and fresh.  That's brilliant.  

When it was announced that Starlight Express was being revived in London, I had to see it.  That is pretty much why I'm here.  It did not disappoint.  The show was fresher than ever.  New music, new staging, new characters, some new story aspects - but it's still Starlight Express.  There are so many great things to say about this production.  It was slick, colorful, well staged, skated, sung, and so much energy.  

I actually recorded the mega-mix as we were allowed to, but it's too big to post here.  However, here is a youtube video of the same thing

I wish I could see it again as I don't know what the fate of this production is.  I hear it has to close at some point because they want to knock down the theatre its in, but I don't know.  I may have to come back and see it when we find out.

What a day!

Oh - I plan to do a proper blog about the shows themselves at some point.  

Mattei