With lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and choreography by Arlene Phillips, Starlight Express has been seen by almost 20 million people and gross box office world-wide is estimated at over £270 million.

The show opened at the Apollo Victoria in London on 27th March 1984. In April 1991 Starlight Express became the second longest running musical in London theatre history at that time. The show has also been produced in Germany, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and Mexico, as well as having a production on ice in 1997.

In 1993 the entire creative team re-grouped to revise the show for a new generation. Five new songs were added (including “Next Time You Fall in Love” with lyrics by Don Black), numbers were re-choreographed and the show was re-launched at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London.

Starlight Express continues to race to packed houses in Bochum, Germany, where it plays in an especially adapted theatre, and an award-winning production toured the UK in 2004 while the show is set to tour New Zealand again in July 2009.