For one lucky afternoon Nowt2Do.Com got to have a look around backstage at The Bristol Hippodrome, where Starlight Express had taken over...and here's what we saw.

The huge set fitted nicely into the vast space of the Hippodrome, with the band hiding behind in the corner, and plenty of room to move around on those skates. It took the team around 3 days to fully build on-top of the Hippodrome stage, which includes created a raked track into the audience, a revolving stage, a moving bowl, raising tunnels, 3D screens (of which 6 have already broke!) and enough starts to fill the cosmos!

The stage is exactly as seen from the audience, but it's not till your one it that you realise the size of it...and remember that it's skated on. The height from the top of the bowl seems almost overwhelming when you remember that night after night performers zoom down it towards the audience. Above you is the lighting rig, moving projectors and 3D screens that are ready to be brought into place, but what happens if something fails? There are plenty of back up schemes in-place including live races should the 3D fail, so no matter what happens you are certain of some magic.

Although massively interesting, backstage on Starlight is a working zone, with room for costume changes, skate repairs, stage managers, sound teams and all sorts of people who get the show skating every night, but there is no true way of experience the magic of Starlight Express then to see the show...but hurry you only have till the 5th March before it steams onto Oxford.

Markers to help positioning on stage



Quick Change Areas

The Pit...backstage!
Sound Control
Sound Control and costumes in the background
Behind the moving bowl
The view from the top of the bowl

The hanging 3D screen and projectors
Live Video Control
Skate Workshop


The controls to the bowl
DSM Corner

Starlight Facts

STARLIGHT EXPRESS opened on 27 March 1984 and closed at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London on the 12 January 2002.

After a run of 18 years and 7409 performances STARLIGHT EXPRESS was the second longest-running musical in British Theatre history, behind

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s other smash-hit, CATS.

The London production was seen by over 7 million people

Although only 24 people appear on stage, over 200 are involved in making STARLIGHT EXPRESS happen every night.

New casts attend skate school prior to opening in the show. Skate school runs for 4 weeks prior to 7 weeks of vocal, staging and choreography rehearsals.

There have been 8 productions since 1984 including London, Broadway, a US/Canadian tour, Las Vegas, Japan, Australia/Japan tour, Germany and Mexico.

An estimated 16 million people have seen the show across the globe and the estimated gross box office world-wide is £352 million

When the set was first built, 750 gallons of paint and varnish were used together with 6 miles of timber, two and a half acres of sheet wood and 60 tonnes of steel. There were 1,500 light bulbs on the set, 1,200 lanterns and 6,000 pea lights on the back wall to create the star effect.

During the course of the London production, 20,000 pairs of skate laces, 25,000 skate wheels and 15,000 toe stops were used. The skaters got through 1,200,000 boxes of tissues and 12,000 gallon bottles of water. 2,000 pairs of false lashes, 8,000 tins of base make-up and 2,000 tubs of make-up remover were applied.

The top speed recorded by a skater was 40 mph during a rehearsal.

An army video training film had STARLIGHT EXPRESS as one of the London landmarks for orienteering.

Mel B, of The Spice Girls, trained in the Skate School for STARLIGHT EXPRESS in 1995.

Alan Newman, a postman from Kent, saw the London production 750 times and spent an estimated £21,000. He always sat in the same seat - Stalls L23.

STARLIGHT EXPRESS is the first UK musical to feature polaroid 3D technology.

STARLIGHT EXPRESS was nominated for 7 Tony Awards, winning 1 for ‘Best Costume Designer’.

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