CityLife

Starlight to shine in 3-D

SMASH hit musical Starlight Express will be unveiling a brand new look when its first UK tour premieres in Manchester this autumn.

And - after a sneak preview of the show - the M.E.N. can reveal why hundreds of fans have already snapped up tickets.

For the Manchester launch will be the first time anyone in the UK will see the musical complete with a new 3-D film. Which means it's time to don those green and red-tinted glasses if you want to really be part of the action.

The new film is the brainwave of designer John Napier, who devised the ground-breaking set for the original production back in 1984.

It was the only way he could bring the action- packed show to life again - without building a train track through the audience!

The original West End version saw actors on rollerskates racing past the audience's heads on a track. However, it proved to be too tricky to reconstruct in every theatre on tour.

Julian Napier

So, movie-maker Julian Napier has created a 3-D film which will make the "trains" drive straight into the audience, to be shown alongside the live action on stage.

If all this conjures up visions of 1950s-style drive-in movies, fear not. For, I am told, this production is far from old-fashioned, with a series of revamped hip hop song and dance routines.

Tour producer, David Ian, tells me: "Starlight ran for 18 years in London where it was literally cemented into the ground. It took six months to get all the track out of the theatre!

"I have to set it up in Manchester in just six days, which is where the 3-D film comes in. I think it is going to be every bit as good as the original but different."

Starlight Express is on at the Opera House from Monday, November 1 to Saturday, December 4. Tickets are priced é10 - é32.50. Call 0870 060 1768 or click here to book online.