By Florentine Dame
For a quarter-century now, Debbie Hearnden has been teaching human locomotives how to dance on roller skates. She is the chief choreographer of the musical Starlight Express, which had its first German performance in Bochum 25 years ago.Hearnden thought at the time that her work in Bochum would be just some interim work. She ended up staying in the German industrial city. Starlight Express has also stayed and since its June 12, 1988 opening, has drawn a cumulative audience of more than 14mn.Now she’s rehearsing for a special anniversary jubilee show and everything must be perfect. “One, two, three,” she counts out the rhythm. As if it were nothing special, a good dozen musical performers are dancing to a hip-hop beat, a sound that now belongs to their repertoire.“More energy,” she commands and steps out among them. Without roller skates, she is a good two heads shorter than the athletic performers outfitted in costumes weighing up to 18kg.At nearly 60, Debbie Hearnden still packs a lot of energy as she demonstrates with waving arms and swaying hips what she wants.Andrew Lloyd Webber’s piece about the proud locomotives had its world premiere in 1984. After London, New York and Tokyo, it was something of a shock that a scrappy Ruhr valley industrial city, Bochum, was chosen as the venue in Germany.“They told us they would build us our own theatre for the show,” recalls Arlene Phillips, who as the chief choreographer created the racing scenes and seemingly light-footed roller-skate dances for the world premiere.The Bochum construction plans became a reality, and ever since, Debbie Hearnden has been in charge of carrying out what Phillips choreographed — in a music theatre that was designed for the thrilling speeds — up to 60km per hour — called for in the story line.On a stage of some 1,100 sq m, the performers race through tunnels, leap over several levels, and skate up a ramp bringing them right up close to the audience.Initially there was controversy when Bochum put up half of the building costs of $30mn. After all, not even the producers were completely convinced that Starlight Express would draw in the crowds. Fast skating, jumps and choreography had to be practiced and learned, scene by scene, song by song.And in the first few months, the audience numbers were not what the producers had been dreaming of, as attendance began sluggishly. “I saw myself going back home again after only a year,” Hearnden says today.But then — it suddenly took off. “Maybe people were just waiting for something like us to happen. It simply exploded,” she said. Performance after performance — the count is now at around 9,700 — the locomotive story began pulling crowds in from around Germany, and beyond.One woman in Bochum has seen it more than 900 times.Seven days a week, the steam locomotive Rusty does battle with the sleek electricity-powered technological wonders in order to defend the honour of steam locomotives in general and to win the love of the first-class coach Pearl in particular.The heart-melting storyline has everything that a successful musical needs — speed and action, technology, good tunes and a story of courage.Above all, the show has roller skates.“But despite all the constants, we are also keeping up with the times,” Hearnden says. “The musical moves the audience just as much through feeling as through technique.”As a result, the machines of steel have over the years become more human. If in the beginning it was the cool rock ‘n roll types who embodied the spirit of the times, today the performers illustrate a hip-hop coolness in their outfits and music that appeal to current audience tastes.There are new songs, new light designs, and scenes are revamped over and over. Beyond this, the choreography has become faster-paced and more daring over the years. “I wouldn’t be here if it was the same thing year in, year out,” Hearnden says. And without the innovations, the Starlight Express would have long since been shoved off to some side track. — DPA1 Choreographic director Debbie Hearnden rehearses with a male performer in the musical.
2 Andreas Wolfram (centre) in the role of Greaseball the diesel locomotive in the Bochum production of the musical Starlight Express.
3 The London choreographer of the Starlight Express musical, Arlene Phillips, backstage in Bochum.