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Post by max on Apr 23, 2023 9:49:56 GMT
It twists my brain that 'Next Time You Fall In Love' is 'The Ballad Of Billy McCaw' from "Cats" on a different time signature shifting from 6/8 to 4/4 for the Starlight version. Crazily creative recycling. Only the line "back then was when we saw the Starlight" is different.
Yet the same musical brain would drop (from the title song) the musical motif "of the midnight train, here again, can't explain that midnight train, that midnight train" which is the most authentically Smokey Robinson style bit - the kind of song it's trying to be. That's the quality bit right there!
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Post by richey on Apr 23, 2023 10:48:07 GMT
On a sidenote, I went to a concert by the Hallè orchestra last week, performimg songs from Rock Musicals. It included an amazing performance of Starlight Express with David Thaxton. To hear it performed with a full orchestra was brilliant!
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Post by max on Apr 23, 2023 10:57:29 GMT
Does the show have to be on roller skates, do you think? Does all of it? Despite some thrill in the skating, if anything the skates make more gentle moments look very tentative as characters move around gingerly like they're treading on egg shells. Much more tentative and less dynamic than characters on foot. Could they 'boot up' for when heading for the races. I think it needs a variation on the concept. The folks skateboarding down at the South Bank might be an inspiration.
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Post by d'James on Apr 23, 2023 15:58:31 GMT
Does the show have to be on roller skates, do you think? Does all of it? Despite some thrill in the skating, if anything the skates make more gentle moments look very tentative as characters move around gingerly like they're treading on egg shells. Much more tentative and less dynamic than characters on foot. Could they 'boot up' for when heading for the races. I think it needs a variation on the concept. The folks skateboarding down at the South Bank might be an inspiration. I think it would lose something not being on roller skates. Having said that, the ‘workshop’ at The Other Palace was OK, but I guess that was because we knew it was a one-off. I don’t know what you mean about ‘treading on eggshells’ though. The skating and movement looks second nature to the performers I’ve seen in Germany. |
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Post by theatrenerd on Apr 23, 2023 16:18:28 GMT
I would pay to see the Peter Griffin version of Starlight Express. I hear it went better than his version of Cats... |
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Post by max on Apr 23, 2023 17:11:53 GMT
Does the show have to be on roller skates, do you think? Does all of it? Despite some thrill in the skating, if anything the skates make more gentle moments look very tentative as characters move around gingerly like they're treading on egg shells. Much more tentative and less dynamic than characters on foot. Could they 'boot up' for when heading for the races. I think it needs a variation on the concept. The folks skateboarding down at the South Bank might be an inspiration. I think it would lose something not being on roller skates. Having said that, the ‘workshop’ at The Other Palace was OK, but I guess that was because we knew it was a one-off. I don’t know what you mean about ‘treading on eggshells’ though. The skating and movement looks second nature to the performers I’ve seen in Germany. I just mean that small movements - people in linking dialogue/conversation look a bit tentative and careful which makes it feel less physical - when the whole aim is how excitingly physical it is. That certainly takes off when they're being dynamic or in the races. I may be looking at old youtube videos though. I saw the original London cast and haven't seen it live since. As a variation I quite like the aesthetic when ice skaters come off the ice and wait for their marks - from gliding brilliantly, to stomping with skate guards on. It enhances the sense of latent energy that only takes off when tooled and fuelled. It's never been a favourite of mine but looking back I do rate: the title song, No Comeback, AC/DC, Wide Style Hight Style, Right Place Right Time, Female Rolling Stock Reprise; then from the first revision Engine Of Love (original 1970s version even more), Make Up My Heart, and Next Time You Fall In Love. That's a lot! There aren't many ALW musicals in recent years that have 8 or 9 such distinct songs. Now - could he get his friend Nile Rodgers to tell him what to keep and to rearrange it? All those songs and their many many versions need someone who really knows music (and particularly music of Black origin) to stop ALW jumping the wrong way. His own choosing ears are shot. |
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Post by FairyGodmother on Apr 23, 2023 22:51:08 GMT
Crazy is catchy too. The chorus of that sometimes just pops into my head.
There was an interview recently where he said he used to wait for a melody to come to him three times before he'd write it down, but now he writes them down straight away in case he can't remember them later. So I do wonder if he isn't quite as picky as he was years ago.
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 24, 2023 12:29:31 GMT
Roller skates is the gimmick, and the make-up/costumes. Don't forget that each person is supposed to be a train or a train carriage.
Trains don't walk- they roll or glide!
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Post by og on Apr 24, 2023 13:15:07 GMT
Roller skates is the gimmick, and the make-up/costumes. Don't forget that each person is supposed to be a train or a train carriage. Trains don't walk- they roll or glide! Ice Skates it is! Piggy back off Disney on ice and can tour the arenas. Here starts even more speculation. |
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Post by d'James on Apr 24, 2023 15:47:43 GMT
I think it would lose something not being on roller skates. Having said that, the ‘workshop’ at The Other Palace was OK, but I guess that was because we knew it was a one-off. I don’t know what you mean about ‘treading on eggshells’ though. The skating and movement looks second nature to the performers I’ve seen in Germany. I just mean that small movements - people in linking dialogue/conversation look a bit tentative and careful which makes it feel less physical - when the whole aim is how excitingly physical it is. That certainly takes off when they're being dynamic or in the races. I may be looking at old youtube videos though. I saw the original London cast and haven't seen it live since. As a variation I quite like the aesthetic when ice skaters come off the ice and wait for their marks - from gliding brilliantly, to stomping with skate guards on. It enhances the sense of latent energy that only takes off when tooled and fuelled. It's never been a favourite of mine but looking back I do rate: the title song, No Comeback, AC/DC, Wide Style Hight Style, Right Place Right Time, Female Rolling Stock Reprise; then from the first revision Engine Of Love (original 1970s version even more), Make Up My Heart, and Next Time You Fall In Love. That's a lot! There aren't many ALW musicals in recent years that have 8 or 9 such distinct songs. Now - could he get his friend Nile Rodgers to tell him what to keep and to rearrange it? All those songs and their many many versions need someone who really knows music (and particularly music of Black origin) to stop ALW jumping the wrong way. His own choosing ears are shot. I think over the years, they ironed out things like that. All characters had specific movements of their own. Having said that, I’ve heard that the newest version has cut down on the dancing which is a shame. They have done it on ice before, in America. They mimed, which would spoil it for me. |
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Post by PhantomNcl on Apr 24, 2023 18:30:53 GMT
Roller skates is the gimmick, and the make-up/costumes. Don't forget that each person is supposed to be a train or a train carriage. Trains don't walk- they roll or glide! Ice Skates it is! Piggy back off Disney on ice and can tour the arenas. Here starts even more speculation. It's already been done! There was a US 'on ice' production back in 1997, choreographed by Robin Cousins. starlightexpressmusical.fandom.com/wiki/1997_On_Ice/GalleryThere was also a production in 2013 in Tuacahn, USA, which had a hybrid approach of some performers on skates and some on heelies. By all accounts the cast didn't have a great deal of time to learn how to skate the show (I think it was quoted as them having 22 days), so the production had very mixed reviews. |
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Post by luvvie23 on Apr 24, 2023 19:48:50 GMT
Wouldn’t it be absolutely incredible if this turned out to be true!
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Post by ceebee on Jun 14, 2023 14:48:26 GMT
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Jun 14, 2023 17:19:42 GMT
Imagine if the Troubador became a permanent home for Starlight!
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Post by Jon on Jun 14, 2023 17:22:28 GMT
Imagine if the Troubador became a permanent home for Starlight! I can't imagine it'd be able to sustain an open ended run especially in Wembley. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 14, 2023 17:24:50 GMT
Imagine if the Troubador became a permanent home for Starlight! I can't imagine it'd be able to sustain an open ended run especially in Wembley. If it can sustain in Bochum, why not? |
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Post by AddisonMizner on Jun 14, 2023 17:51:38 GMT
I would be interested to go and see this if it was like the original or Bochum productions.
I saw the UK tour with 3D glasses, and it didn’t really do anything for me.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 14, 2023 22:00:30 GMT
I would be interested to go and see this if it was like the original or Bochum productions. I saw the UK tour with 3D glasses, and it didn’t really do anything for me. This is an entirely new production |
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Post by d'James on Jun 15, 2023 7:07:18 GMT
I can't imagine it'd be able to sustain an open ended run especially in Wembley. If it can sustain in Bochum, why not? It depends. There is nostalgia there, but I think they’re pushing it with the amount of time it’s been out of the public view in the UK. If it’s based on the current German score, with less dancing, I’m not sure how well it will do. |
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Post by viserys on Jun 15, 2023 7:56:36 GMT
If it can sustain in Bochum, why not? It's really become more of a theme park attraction in Germany than a musical, attracting people who wouldn't normally go to theatres. And of course there is far less choice in Germany, especially regionally. The only other big musical in NRW is the very new and very well selling Moulin Rouge. In fact I think Starlight Express may benefit from people who travel to Cologne for that now and may think "let's see Starlight Express again as well, it's been 18 years". Their competitor Stage Entertainment has been helping them alot (inadvertently) by closing the only other musical theatre in the Ruhr Valley (in Oberhausen) because they couldn't make it work and focusing mostly on Hamburg and a bit less on Stuttgart (which gets the hand-me-downs from Hamburg). There is endlessly more choice in and around London. I still don't get (based on the replies I got on the Newsies thread) why a location like Wembley which is far more accessible by car, isn't more popular with families especially, since it must be much easier and cheaper to wrangle kids into a family car for a day's out, park close to a venue, feed everyone ice cream and see the show, rather than all the faff of getting into central London. The accessibility by car is another pro for Starlight Express here - the theatre is within an hour's drive of 20 million people and just off the motorway exit, which makes trips there very easy. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 15, 2023 9:19:28 GMT
And I would have thought that SE has massively more name recognition and appeal than Newsies. It’s rollersaking trains!
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Post by BVM on Jun 15, 2023 9:23:23 GMT
I would be interested to go and see this if it was like the original or Bochum productions. I saw the UK tour with 3D glasses, and it didn’t really do anything for me. This is an entirely new production In terms of staging or book? I thought latter was pretty fixed as the Bochum (based on The Other Palace) version? |
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Post by luvvie23 on Jun 15, 2023 14:39:59 GMT
I think this will be an epic version, similar to the original. Especially with the troubadour being a huge space.
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42ndBlvd
Swing
I'll be back where I was born to be
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Post by 42ndBlvd on Jun 16, 2023 0:26:14 GMT
And I would have thought that SE has massively more name recognition and appeal than Newsies. It’s rollersaking trains! Definitely not with younger audiences, unless you’re in your late 40s to 50s 👨🦯 |
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42ndBlvd
Swing
I'll be back where I was born to be
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Post by 42ndBlvd on Jun 16, 2023 0:29:02 GMT
And I would have thought that SE has massively more name recognition and appeal than Newsies. It’s rollersaking trains! Definitely not with younger audiences, unless you’re in your late 40s to 50s 👨🦯 Besides I don’t think Starlight has much chance of a major return unless it’s another tour. It would hardly be a success and if Newsies can’t sellout the Wembley Park, Starlight is definitely not making any money. |
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