From concept to stage: The evolution of Starlight Express

The smash hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Starlight Express, is back in London for 2025, powering down the tracks at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. The world’s first truly immersive musical, it plunges audiences into the heart of the action, bringing the story to life in a whole new way. This spectacle is far from the show’s more humble origins, however, which began back in 1974. Let’s take a look at how Starlight Express evolved from concept to stage.

The origins of Starlight Express

The idea for Starlight Express germinated over 50 years ago when Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted to make a TV series based on the Thomas the Tank Engine books. While a pilot episode was commissioned by Granada TV, it was decided that the stories didn’t have enough reach to justify funding an entire series. Of course, as any child growing up in the 80s and 90s knows, this was proved wrong when the later series Thomas & Friends aired to enormous success. Unperturbed by the rejection, Lloyd Webber still remained fascinated by trains and wrote a novelty song for American singer Earl Jordan called “Engine of Love”. Later, he worked on songs for a potential animated version of Cinderella, which turned Cinderella into a steam train and the Ugly Sisters into electric and diesel engines. While this didn’t go anywhere, the seed for Starlight Express was sown.

Starlight Express comes to life

In 1981, Lloyd Webber teamed up with songwriter Richard Stilgoe to create two new songs for a potential show. Presented at the Sydmonton Festival in 1982, they attracted the interest of director Trevor Nunn. When choreographer Arlene Phillips and designer John Napier came on board, things really took off. Napier and Nunn were working together on Cats in New York, when they came across a group of street dancers on roller skates. Lloyd Webber later recalled, “This gave [Napier] an idea. Trains have wheels. So do roller skates. QED [our] actors could be on roller skates.”

Starlight Express opened officially at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on 27 March 1984. Race tracks swept from the stage into the audience and a six-tonne bridge was installed that could be raised and lowered to join different levels of the set. Such was its success, the production went on to play on Broadway and then across North America, as well as in Europe, Asia and Australia. The show ran in the West End until January 2002, experiencing some updates and changes along the way. In 1992 there were some significant plot rewrites, with the characters of Belle and CB being ditched and a total of 12 songs being removed from the original production, with five new ones added.

Starlight Express in 2025

Featuring a new plot twist, some further new songs and a totally immersive experience, Starlight Express is bigger and better than ever in 2025. If you love Andrew Lloyd Webber theatre shows, don’t miss the chance to book your Starlight Express tickets today and enjoy the magic! The show runs until 26 October 2025.