Changes to the Show

Andrew Lloyd Webber has wanted to update Starlight Express
for a long time, so when it was decided to do a new
production this was the perfect time to change the show.  

Lloyd Webber began by rewriting the music and lyrics and updating the book, collaborating with Tony Award nominated
composer David Yazbek, composer and lyricist of The Full Monty. "I think what we’ve done is taken the best elements of
it. I’ve completely rescored it and rewritten it for today..." says Lloyd Webber.  

Yazbek adds, "It was challenging and also thrilling to listen to a beat and try to come up with exciting lyrics. As a composer,
my gold standard is a catchy melody and it’s been a pleasure to write lyrics for Andrew’s unforgettable melodies." The new
music is inspired by today’s hottest pop music acts including Justin Timberlake, Destiny’s Child and Ricky Martin just to
name a few.

The show features some major changes besides Lloyd Webber’s unforgettable melodies, new sets and costumes.  It
features 3D technology incorporated into the race sequences.

The US touring production designed by John Napier for Troika Entertainment, features the world’s first use of a
stereoscopic video projection system in a theatre production.   

                                                      BEHIND THE 3D MOVIE

With actors singing and dancing on roller skates and a stunt skater flying through the air, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
spectacular, has always been far from typical. However, this all-new production adds something even more extraordinary to
the Broadway musical genre - the inclusion of innovative 3D film sequences.

Through the course of the show, the trains engage in a series of competitions that morph from live on-stage action to 3D film
projected on a screen that lowers at the front of the stage. As the races begin, audiences are alerted to "Put on their Safety
Goggles" (3D glasses) to watch the races on film. As the trains race through the tracks, 3D technique and brings the race
action out to and over the audience for an unforgettable experience.

During the winter of 2002, shooting began on location in an abandoned missile silo in Wales. Julian Napier, Director of the
3D Film, said "The filming process was already extremely challenging working with 3D technology. It was compounded by
doing it in arctic conditions akin to a Siberian salt mine with the batteries going down." However, Napier was surrounded by
a team of seasoned experts including roller skating coaches, 3D specialists, film crew and cast members all striving to bring
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fantastic vision to life in an environment that was less than ideal for anything but the camera.

Nevertheless he says, "As a director, you live for situations that require you to think on your feet. That often makes you
more resourceful. When you’re confronted with a challenge, you have to come up with something that is unique – beyond
what you might have put on the storyboards."