Poppa background and role

Poppa background and role

Personality;

An old, retired steam engine, Poppa was the former champion many years before Greaseball came 

into the picture. He is also the oldest train in the trainyard. He preaches of the Starlight Express, a god-like entity who will help those who call upon him. He is revered and loved by the Freight and Rusty, but disregarded as a doddery, old fool by pretty much everyone else.

Poppa is generally believed to be Rusty's father, although this has never been explicitly stated in any production. In the original London production, Poppa would refer to Rusty as "son", and even in a line in Laughing Stock, "that's my boy". Whether Poppa is literally Rusty's father, or not, he is clearly a father-figure to Rusty and the Freight.

Role;

We first meet Poppa in a scene change after the first race, as we move to the freight yard. Poppa is singing The Blues, while the Hip Hoppers dance along, Dustin plays the Mouth Organ and Flat-top kills time waiting for something more fun to happen. Rusty comes to them, very depressed that he's lost Pearl as a race partner. Poppa reminds Rusty that the Starlight Express will help if he just believes in himself. With moments before the race closes Poppa then decides to show him - "I'm gonna show you that a steamer with the power within him, Can take on oil, and take on Electricity! Who'll come with me? Who'll come with me? Race behind me?" hip hopper 1 has hooked up with the British Train, Flat-top flat-out refuses, but Dustin is really excited at the opportunity. The trouble that the race card is full is conveniently solved as the British train is scrapped, which Poppa interprets as a sign from the Starlight Express.

Poppa and Dustin race against Turnov and wrench . More by chance than design, Poppa and Dustin manage to win the race. But he's over-exerted himself, and collapses, gravely ill. Rusty and the Freight come to congratulate him, but find him unable to carry on. Poppa begs Rusty to take his place in the final, but Rusty still feels he can't - "I couldn't face that losing shame". Greaseball and Gang, Electra, Pearl and Components all catch up and mock the steamers, calling them "Laughing Stock". Seeing Pearl with Electra is the final straw for Rusty, he takes Poppa's helmet from him and steps up.

Later, in "The Rap", a big argument rages, does Poppa have the right to give away his place to his choice of replacement? Poppa and Rusty eventually win the argument, and Rusty keeps his place in the final.

Poppa, old, and worn out, is not seen again until the end of the downhill final, where the winner, Rusty, has disappeared. Well, Rusty went looking for Pearl, but where is Pearl? Poppa picks up the wrecked Greaseball, who had disconnected Pearl at high speed during the race, and makes him lead Poppa and most of the cast to find Rusty and Pearl. Once they find the young lovers, Poppa leads the finale "Light At The End Of The Tunnel"

Rusty Background and role

Rusty Background and role

Personality;

Rusty is a sweet, timid, and innocent steam train. He is also easily provoked, which is shown when Pearl rejects him and he refuses to race without her. The freight trucks and the carriages are fond of him, but don't believe he has the ability to race. He has big ideas of who he is and who he wants to be, but he is left heart-broken when everyone, especially Pearl, ridicules him.

Sometimes, he is portrayed as a hopeless dreamer, far inferior to his more advanced competitors. Other actors portray him as having the potential to become champion, but he lacks the self-confidence. The original London production saw him as a much angrier character, as shown in "Call Me Rusty (If You Dare)". However, subsequent productions portray as a more optimistic, cheerful character, as shown in “Crazy".

Role;

Rusty is the main character of Starlight Express. The young steam engine, he has big dreams of winning the race and the heart of the beautiful Pearl.

Rusty is a steam shunter engine - his job on the railway is to move the rolling stock, assemble trains, but he is not designed for high speeds or long distances.

Electra background and role

Electra background and role

Personality;

The Engine of the Future, Electra represents the excitement and danger of the unknown.  Electra

brings star presence with his entourage of Components.

While generally portrayed by a male actor, there have been numerous occasions where the role has been played by a female understudy, and the subtext to "AC/DC" suggest that Electra is both bisexual and gender fluid, in short, an neutral character who chooses not to follow rules.  This is in direct contrast to his main rival Greaseball, who is as masculine and testosterone-fuelled as possible.

Role;

Entering as a surprise contestant, Electra shows up just as Control is about to close entries. His approach drains the power to the train yard, causing a black-out and loss of movement to the other characters. Out of the gloom, a laser shoots out, and one by one Electra's components emerge. They build the anticipation calling for "Electra, Electra!" Finally he appears, shockingly outrageous yet magnetically attractive ("AC/DC") “I am electric, the future is me”. During his song he glances around and decides Pearl is suitably shiny to be his race partner, and literally draws her to him, despite Rusty’s protests. Indeed Rusty is the only character strong enough to resist Electra's attraction. However Electra doesn't always get his way; during Pumping Iron he temporarily loses half his components to Greaseball's rock'n'roll appeal. Greaseball and Electra are the main rivals for the title of Champion - none of the other characters consider Rusty a viable competitor. When Pearl doesn't immediately respond positively to Electra's message sent through Purse, he finds her in person and easily persuades her to race with him, not Rusty. In the Original production, Electra raced with Pearl in Heat 2 and beat Rusty and Belle. However when the races were re-formatted to a more condensed format, Electra races head to head with Greaseball, and they draw in a dead heat, leaving their feud to be decided in the final race. During The Rap, Electra finally loses control of Pearl. He decides second best would be Dinah, and dispatches Purse to fetch her. However Dinah is never a satisfactory partner, too easily distracted by the sight of her ex, Greaseball, and she complains far too much. So when she disconnects him, he turns to Caboose, despite him revealing his traitorous nature to Electra. Caboose's insane manoeuvrings in the final race end up being Electra's downfall, causing a crash that allows Rusty to take the lead, and the title.

Greaseball Character Background and Role

Grease ball character background and role

Personality;

Grease ball is the diesel engine from Starlight Express. He is the alpha male of the train yard, the reigning champion of the races, he is confident, suave, and a heart-breaker.

Being the alpha male of the train yard, all the coaches love him, but Dinah is his girlfriend. His character is quite deceptive, at first he appears cool and tough, but at the end he is quite thick as he spells "Sorry" wrong with three Rs. He leads an anonymous and faceless gang who double up as race marshals before, during and after each race. Together, they menace and intimidate Rusty and the Freight.

He is Control's favourite engine, with all his rule-breaking and foul play being ignored.

The original London production portrayed him as a darker character than he is today. He is portrayed as a champion who cheats, bullies, and defaces his way to the finishing line. He beats up his girlfriend Dinah, ditches her when she complains about his behaviour, and humiliates her by saying over her head to the red caboose that she is no longer his coach.

However, with the musical now tuned to that of a family show, much of his behaviour is understandably toned down to his being an arrogant and thoughtless champion who learns his lesson.

"I'm just the fastest thing you'll ever see"

Role;

Grease ball is the first major character we are introduced to. Clearly Control's favourite, Grease ball leads his gang in an anthem to how awesome they are ("Rolling Stock"). The pathetic little steam train, Rusty, interrupts their celebration of Diesel, and Grease ball and gang taunt Rusty about his ridiculous dreams of racing ("Taunting Rusty") Control tells the racing engines to go rest, leaving Rusty to work shifting coaches and freight.

Grease ball returns to find an intruder bedazzling his train yard with flashy Electrics. He responds by making a point, he's "Pumping Iron" and all the girls adore him, even the new-comer Electric components can't resist him. The race comes down to a direct challenge, Grease ball the reigning champion against Electra with his cutting-edge technology. The rest of the competitors are simply making up the numbers.

Grease ball wins the first heat with his carriage, Dinah, but when she complains about his cheating with Caboose, he leaves her behind, he doesn't need emotional baggage. After The Rap, Grease ball decides on her replacement - the pretty Pearl would make a great partner ("Pearl Twirl"). Caboose calls him, wanting to explain his plan - Caboose will partner with Rusty, and throw the race in Grease ball’s favour. The Uphill Final only goes partially to plan, Rusty is wrecked by Caboose, but the race is called off when it devolves into a punch-up. Now Pearl knows about the scheme, and she has to be threatened to behave.

For the re-run, the Downhill Final, Grease ball is racing with the now unwilling Pearl, but his treacherous mate Caboose is now racing with Electra, and last minute, Rusty turns up with Dustin, but he is hardly a threat. But Pearl is distracted by Rusty, and Electra hits her with a lightning bolt, leaving her injured and a dead weight in the race, so Grease ball uncouples her, leaving her to fly off uncontrolled while he continues to race solo. However Grease ball’s fighting with Electra, and Caboose's meddling, finally cause a crash before any of them cross the finish line, leaving Rusty and Dustin to win the race.

Thoroughly humiliated ("One Rock'n'Roll Too Many"), Grease ball has lost his championship, his respect from his gang, and his girlfriend. But tender-hearted Dinah accepts his somewhat stilted apology "Dinah, I'm S.O.R.R.R.Y". And Poppa suggests he could be converted to Steam - to join the winning side in the end.