Starlight Express is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Later productions have used additional songs with lyrics by Don Black, David Yazbek, Nick Coler and Lauren Aquilina, and with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber's son, Alistair.
The musical tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope of impressing a first-class carriage, Pearl. Famously, the actors perform the entire show on roller skates. The show holds the record as the ninth-longest-running theatrical production in West End history, having been performed 7,409 times between 1984 and 2002. Starlight Express is also the most successful musical in Germany, where it has been performed in a purpose-built theatre since 1988.
