‘Starlight Express’ on wrong track at Aladdin

Friday, Jan. 23, 2004 | 8:23 a.m.

The characters created by Andrew Lloyd Webber in "Starlight Express," for the most part, have about as much warmth and appeal as a railroad tie.

The children's book "The Little Engine that Could," first published by Platt & Munk in 1930, inspired Webber to create the musical.

Webber's sophomoric version of a child's contemporary fable about the value of perseverance to overcome adversity has its fans, though not as many in the United States as in Europe.

"Starlight Express" debuted in 1984 in London, playing 7,046 performances before closing in 2002, making it second only to Webber's "Cats" as the longest-running musical in London history.

A production in Bochum, Germany, has been playing more than 14 years. A Broadway version opened in 1987 and closed in 1989 after about 700 performances.

Local residents who have been here long enough may remember that "Starlight Express" did so-so business at the Las Vegas Hilton, opening in 1993 and closing in 1997, derailing a year before its contract ended.

After the London production closed, Webber decided to take the show on the road. He and David Yazbeck (composer and lyricist of "The Full Monty") wrote a few new songs, including a rap number.

A 3-D film depicting a train race was added. The intent, presumably, was to make the updated version of "Starlight" more exciting, but the brief scene, which requires the use of "safety goggles," is an unnecessary novelty. It has the feel of a home movie and isn't the least bit compelling.

In fact, there isn't much compelling about the presentation of the story, the songs or the choreography.

Even the skating was not as thrilling as it could have been. Given today's popularity of skateboarding, in-line skating and snowboarding, we are accustomed to witnessing skaters risk life and limb performing hair-raising stunts.

Watching a cast member skate up a ramp and do a back flip is not that exciting anymore. The production missed an opportunity to be edgy.

The best thing about the musical is the costuming, which is very creative work by John Napier, who also designed the set (a minimalist affair involving a couple of launch ramps commonly seen at roller skating parks and a balcony that encircles the stage).

The two-hour production (which includes a 15-minute intermission) opens with voice-overs -- a young boy playing with model trains is told by his mother to go to bed.

As he sleeps he dreams and personifies the trains, imagining a race involving engines from Japan, Russia, Germany, Great Britain and the United States.

Lead characters include Rusty the steam engine, played by Franklyn Warfield; his love interest, Pearl (an observation car played by Clarissa Grace); Greaseball the diesel engine, played by Drue Williams; and Electra, the electric engine portrayed by Dustin Dubreuil.

Warfield does well as the shy engine who eventually finds himself in a race with the cocky Greaseball (played to perfection by Williams, who was with the original cast in London) and the androgynous Electra.

The gist of the story is that Rusty must overcome a feeling of insecurity to compete against the two larger engines.

His epiphany comes out of left field. Although it is the major turning point in the plot -- when Rusty sees the Starlight Express and gains self-confidence -- there is not a dramatic buildup to that moment and no real justification for it other than it is a necessary plot point.

Although there were a couple of instances in which voices cracked while singing, overall the cast is composed of decent singers who can carry a note.

Unfortunately, the notes are in songs that are largely forgettable.

A couple that are memorable are "Freight," sung by an ensemble of freight cars, and "Poppa's Blues," featuring Dennis Le-Gree.

One that I'm trying to forget is "U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.," a parody of Tammy Wynette's 1968 country hit "D.I.V.O.R.C.E."

Webber uses stock characters to tell a simple story best left to the thin book written for children.

A more appropriate title for the musical might have been "The Little Engine that Shouldn't."