#ray shell

Ray Shell

Rusty - 1984-86 (London)

Poppa - 1996-98

Poppa - 2009-10 (Bochum)

Practicing drawing people who look like people with help from Banana Boi's tutorial. Who would've guessed drawing from life helps your drawings to look more like life?

Easy answer - the original 1984! Partly I adore Ray Shell's voice, but I really love the bridge that got cut, "I can hear that train, here again..." it's low, it's syncopated, it builds up beautifully to really open up into the main theme... it adds a little bit more complexity to the song, just another flavour on top. It's fine without, but when you can have the option with more, why take less?

There's such interesting thematic links between what melodies are used where... like the verse of "When the night is darkest" being the verse of "Only He" - but "When the night is darkest" was introduced in the Broadway production, when they used the smaller, simpler "Only You/Du Allein" - I wonder if ALW particularly liked it and didn't want to lose that bit of melody?

There's so much story telling between "Starlight Express", the "Starlight Sequence", and "Only He/ Only You" - the way the Starlight Sequence is combining the the theme of Rusty's searching, needing - and the fulfilment, the confidence of the "Only You" melody, which makes the love song a reprise of Rusty's finding himself, his confidence, his purpose... having found himself, Pearl finds herself with the same melody, they come together and it's beautiful.... ahhhh....

Getting off topic about the love song there! But it is related - very directly. But yes, I put the original version of "Starlight Express" top, and honestly all the others are equal = very good second choice. I don't hate any of them, but I love the original best!

🚂Call Me Rusty If You Dare!🚂

Stimboard for original London cast Rusty, played by Ray Shell