Andrew Lloyd Webber’s timeless classic, Starlight Express, re-envisioned for the 21st century, has taken to the stage in the specially designed Starlight Auditorium at London’s state-of-the-art Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.
With new orchestrations, choreography and songs, the story of a child’s train set that magically comes to life retains all its original wonder, with thrilling roller skate races around the auditorium and powerful performances from the 40-strong company of ‘rolling stock’ (engines and carriages) in an immersive production that begins from the moment the audience steps into the theatre. The audience is closely entwined in the action which takes place on a near in-the-round main stage with racing track ‘spokes’ leading off between sunken areas of seating and around the auditorium.
In anticipation of a long run, the show’s producers, Michael Harrison Entertainment Ltd, made an early decision to purchase 4 MDG ICEFOG Q low pressure generators directly from MDG UK to handle the show’s low fog requirements. Residue, noise levels and quality of low fog were all priorities when making the correct choice of generator, as well as flexibility to be able to fulfil any demand before the final artistic decisions had been put in place.
“With 40 roller skaters travelling at speed, it was vital we employed a top-class CO2 system because it would not leave any slippery residue – water or vapour – on the track,” explains Oliver Thomas, Senior Production Electrician for Starlight Express.
“Noise levels were also a factor as the ICEFOG Q generators are located under the show floor very close to the audience. Although the show is loud, the experience is totally immersive, so the last thing we wanted was to have that magic broken by noisy technology, especially in the Starlight Express solo which is the most iconic in the show. I’ve used many low fog machines in theatre so know they are often noisy, but with the ICEFOG Qs, we can barely tell they are on!”
Two ICEFOG Q low pressure generators are located upstage left and right providing low fog across the centre stage area of the main floor. Two more ICEFOG Qs are embedded in the central stage lift where low fog is pumped through ducting that travels up with the lift and cascades down its sides to give the impression the lift – and the performer on it – is floating. “If we were to use smoke machines the atmosphere would become too ‘smoky’ with the movement of the skaters, but the ICEFOG has a really nice dense low fog that provides perfect wispiness but remains low enough for sight lines to remain uninterrupted when it is skated through,” confirms Thomas.
The decision process was helped along by the service provided by MDG UK, whose Matt Wiseman took along a demo unit to the show’s rehearsal studios in 3 Mills, East London. Here director Luke Sheppard and lighting designer Howard Hudson were able to see how the low fog reacted with the movement of the skaters, and also try out new ideas to explore what effects could be achieved. It also gave the skating team the chance to feel confident that the low fog option would be safe and to acclimatise to skating through it on different surfaces.
“Being able to do that weeks before delivery was really useful and gave us peace of mind,” says Thomas. “At the time of purchase we were still in the process of deciding what effects we would want and where to locate the generators, so we took the decision to go with MDG as offering the widest number of options going forward. We wanted the flexibility to put the machines anywhere we wanted to create the effects we would ultimately want if we moved or changed things.”
The low pressure version of the ICEFOG Q was chosen for a multitude of reasons, and excels in long running shows in particular: “From the start we have been conscious of the environmental impact of using low fog, so we wanted the most efficient machines that used the least amount of CO2 with the best effect,” says Thomas. “By choosing the low pressure ICEFOG Q we were able to dispense with individual CO2 bottles and feed the four ICEFOG Q generators directly from two 230ltr CO2 dewar tanks located within the theatre. These dewars have content gauges which make it easy to see how much CO2 is left, so there is no wastage swapping out part-used bottles, and they are refilled directly (by BOC) on a weekly delivery. The dewars never leave the theatre, there’s no time wasted or manhandling in disconnecting bottles and hosing, and we only pay for what we use. They are much easier to manage, cost effective and there’s less wastage. From a cost and environmental point of view it’s a very efficient system for long running shows.”
Lighting designer, Howard Hudson agrees: “The ICEFOG Qs provided us with beautiful, even and dense low fog across our space and once again ticked all the boxes in terms of quiet operation and high reliability. Due to the nature of the show being staged on roller skates and all the complexities you’d expect that adding low fog into this environment creates, it was so important to choose a machine which could be cued to time so accurately with very little residue and I am so thrilled at the practical and artistic solution the ICEFOG Qs gave us.”
The haze for Starlight Express is supplied by two MDG theONE™ dual haze and fog generators from Christie Lites, the main technical provider for the show. “The new production of Starlight Express is performed in a large space (60m x 30m) with inconsistent and varied air flow so we knew using MDG’s theONE™ would be vital to provide a consistent and easily adjustable level of haze across the vast space,” says Hudson. “For such a fundamental part of the design, we needed machines which could be easily maintained and operate quietly due to their close proximity to the audience and theONEs™ really have excelled.”
theONE™ generators are rigged over the stage area and in the gantry over the auditorium seating, their travelling cradles, Thomas states, making them “easy to roll on stage and useful to hoist into position.”
“Tucked away in these positions they fill the room with really nice constant haze which is virtually undetectable by the audience,” says Thomas. “The haze is so fine it just travels through the natural air circulation of the venue and gives the same great haze we would get from an ATMe, which is the traditional ‘go-to’ hazer for theatre. theONE™ gives us the volume and large range of control to handle the huge space without the network of ducting and multiple CO2 bottles that a large number of smaller generators would require. Instead we feed theONEs™ from the same dewar tanks as the ICEFOG Qs, theONEs™ using vaporous CO2 and the ICEFOG Qs using liquid CO2, and the fluid reservoirs on each of theONE™ holds 25ltrs so they last for ages!
“MDG was extremely helpful in providing us with all the information we needed to create our own pipework to be able to site the ICEFOG Qs and theONEs™ wherever we wanted. All of this ties together to form a very efficient, economical and environmentally conscious fog and haze system, and I would like to thank the team at MDG UK for their help in making this happen so quickly and efficiently.”
“MDG haze machines provide a type of haze completely unrivalled in the theatre world,” concludes Howard Hudson. “The lights and lasers on Starlight Express would be nothing without the fantastic MDG haze through which to see them!”
Starlight Express began its journey in June 2024 and has recently extended its booking until October 2025.
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For Information on Starlight Express: www.starlightexpresslondon.com . Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok -@starlightexpressldn . X – StarlightLondon
Photo: Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre – Photography by © Pamala Raith