Start your engines! Pioneering musical Starlight Express will skate back into Southampton in 2027 as part of a world tour.
The beloved musical made a triumphant return to London when the new production opened to widespread critical acclaim at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in June 2024. It went on to win multiple awards, including an Olivier Award and a record-breaking seven WhatsOnStage Awards, and became London’s longest running revival of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in 20 years.
This thrilling new production has been redesigned for theatres across the UK and beyond, bringing all the spectacle and high-speed energy of the London production to your doorstep.
Greaseball from Starlight Express (Image: Mayflower Theatre)
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Tickets for the Mayflower Theatre run, from September 15 to 25 next year, will go on general sale at mayflower.org.uk from Friday May 22 with member pre-sales from Tuesday (May 19).
Seen by over 30 million people across the world, Starlight Express is an electrifying experience for all ages. Feel the rush as an incredible cast whizzes by performing some of musical theatre’s most beloved songs, including AC/DC, Make Up My Heart, Light at the End of the Tunnel and the iconic Starlight Express.
As a child’s train set magically comes to life and the engines race to become the fastest in the world, Rusty the steam train has little hope of winning until he is inspired by the legend of the ‘Starlight Express’.
Dinah from Starlight Express (Image: Mayflower Theatre)
Producer Michael Harrison said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be launching this major new tour of Starlight Express.
“Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extraordinary score, combined with the show’s unique sense of spectacle, exhilaration and heart, continues to captivate audiences across generations.
“This exciting new production builds on everything people love about the show, featuring a dynamic new set design by Tim Hatley. It’s going to be an unmissable theatrical event, pulling into a station near you.”
Casting is still to be announced for the world tour, which has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Choreographer Arlene Phillips, of Strictly Come Dancing fame, is creative dramaturg for the production.
