The Midnight Crossing

==========================
==========================

Starlight Express Characters

The Engines

Rusty

A Steam Engine
Our Hero. ^_^ Rusty is the young steam engine who dreams of glory and the love of his favorite coach, Pearl
As a steam engine, he's out of date and thus picked on by the newer modern engines
He (sometimes reluctantly) continues to try to find the glory he's sure that he deserves.
He whines a bit when things don't go his way, but he doesn't give up.
And to further demonstrate that he's the hero of the story, he gets all of the pretty ballads.

Poppa

A Steam Engine
Poppa's cool. He's a grand old steam engine,
just the sort that anyone thinks of when they come up with romantic images of powerful steamers rolling down the tracks.
Once a great racer (holder of the championship title), he's now mostly retired and hangs out with the freight cars
He serves as Rusty's mentor, giving the younger engine encouragement, or a shove to make Rusty stop sulking, depending on what's needed
He has a rich deep baratone as his blues song requires

Greaseball

A Diesel Engine
One of the antagonists to the story, the blocking figure.
Hailing from the US of A, he's the current champion of the Great Race, and he won't let anyone forget it.
Modeled after a greaser from the 1950s, he's the resident tough guy and all of the girls love him, and he knows it.
Together with his entourage of leather jacket wearing gang members, he enjoys making life difficult for Rusty
Musically, Greaseball is all rock'n'roll

Electra

An Electric Engine
The newest, shiny-est Engine on the tracks. He's here to challange Greaseball for the title and nearly matches the diesel for attitude.
Never seen without his entourage of components, Electra definately stands out in a crowd.
He's another blocking figure as far as the romance element of the story goes.
His music style, is fittingly enough, rather techno.

The Coaches

Pearl

An Observation Coach
Pearl's an observation car - a train coach with lots of big windows. She's the newest coach around and Rusty's love interest.
She doesn't take life seriously and she's just out to have as much fun as she can, breaking a few hearts in the process.
That said, she is the female lead in the show and everybody is after her, Rusty, Electra and Greaseball
Aside from singing the love song at the end, she also gets her share of ballads, although originally she also had a spiffy 80s pop song

Dinah

A Dining Car
Cleverly named Dinah the dining car is a sweet southern belle dressed in an outfit resembling a tablecloth.
She's Greaseball's coach for part of the show, until things go wrong for her, but like Rusty, she just needs a bit of encouragement to go after what she wants.
Like Pearl, she also wants to be partnered to the championship engine - but she figures that it will be Greaseball.
Her music style is a country-western ballad

Buffy

A Buffet Car
Equally cleverly named, Buffy appears to be older and more experienced than Pearl and Dinah. She's not as first class as the other two.
Also out to have a good time at the races and find a suitable engine, she doesn't seem as dependent on it as the others.
For the most part, she is there to advise Dinah when she needs it.
Her song style is more girl rock.

Ashley

A Smoking Car
Now Ashley the smoking car is a bit creative.
As a smoking car she's also a bit outdated. Never seen without a cigarette, she's trying and failing to kick the habit.
Like Buffy, she's not as emotionally tied to the outcome of this race, although she does give Dinah advice when the dining car needs it.
Her song style is more girl rock as well.

Belle

A Sleeping Car
The forgotten coach. Belle was in the original production of Starlight, but as the show evolved, her character got cut out.
She's the oldest of the coaches, about Poppa's age, and as she's not as shiny any longer, she doesn't hang out with the rest of the coaches.
But she is one that believes in Rusty and helps him, as well as giving advice to Dinah.
She has a big brassy voice in her songs.

Freight

Rocky

The Box Cars
Actually there are three (or four) of them, known as Rocky 1, Rocky 2 and Rocky 3. They're box cars. Get it?
Anyway, these freight cars are just all around cool guys. (Also sometimes known as the Hip Hoppers)
They hang out with Poppa a lot, and they serve to get the audience and cast excited about the race
They also try to talk some sense into Rusty when he is ready to give up.
They rap :)

Flat Top

A Brick Truck
One of the freight train, he's the brat of the pack. He's friends with Dustin, but unlike the rest of the freight he prefers Greaseball to Rusty.
He doesn't have a huge part in the show, but he's a lot of fun to watch in the background.
He argues with Poppa, and joins Greaseball's gang for awhile before finally deciding where his real loyalites lie.
Poor Flat Top doesn't have a song to himself, so I can't say what style of song he does

Dustin

A Big Hopper
Dustin is the largest of the freight cars, a large hopper. Sometimes he carries gravel and sometimes he carries aggregates.
He's the largest, but he's also very self-concious of his size, so he's cutely quiet and shy.
Dustin also dreams of being a great racer, but because of his size, no engine wants to take him. He'll just slow them down.
Dustin does not really have a song to himself either, but he does have a song he sings counterpoint to Rusty

CB

A Red Caboose
Sometimes known as CB because of his radio, and sometimes just as caboose,
he remains one of the more popular characters in the show, despite all of the cuts to his character.
He always has a smile as he helps Greaseball, and Dinah, and Rusty, and Electra...
Or does he really? Just who's side is he on?
He has a wide range of songs, a pretty ballad and a rather 80s style song

Components

Krupp

An Armaments Truck
One of Electra's most intimidating components, he mostly just hangs around with the others, looking scary.
He rarely races - in most productions he doesn't - but he did in at least one show.

Wrench

A Repair Truck
Wrench is the most butch of all the female characters in the show. (And according to some, the real star)
She's the repair truck, but I don't know how comfortable most cars would be asking for her help.

Purse

A Money Truck
Electra's slinky money truck, who is usually played as being rather effeminate.
He is also Electra's messenger, as the engine sends him off to fetch his various racing partners.

Volta

A Freezer Truck
The coolest car on stage.
It varies from production to production, but sometimes she is Electra's favorite component and sometimes she fills in to partner other racers.

Joule

A Dynamite Truck
The most explosive of the components. She has gone through the most dramatic costume changes over all.
She also races with different engines in most of the shows.

National Engines

Bobo

French Engine
The French TGV (train à grande vitesse, French for "high-speed train"), he comes in for the race.
In the London Version, he races with Ashley and places second in the qualifying race for the final.

Espresso

Italian Engine
The Roman to Milan express - the Settebello. I don't know what that is, the most I found is that its a streamline train.
He's mostly just there to fill in.

Ruhrgold/Weltshaft

German Engine
The German Engine, the ICE - the InterContinental Express. He started life as Weltshaft but had his name changed later.
In the German production, he races with Joule and places second in the qualifying race for the final

Turnov

Russian Engine
The Trans-Siberian Express, the third longest railway in the world.
It varies who he races with, but he doesn't win or place in any version.

Nintendo/Hashamoto

Japanese Engine
The Shinkansen Bullet Train. Which actually is the fastest train in the world, it set a world record at 361 mph
In the US productions and the Japan productions he races with Volta and places second in the qualifiying race for the final

Prince of Wales

British Train
The poor Royal train. In each production (execpt the German one, where he is nonexistant) he is scrapped before he gets a chance to race.
But this does give the steamers a place to race...

Other Characters

There are some addional national engines that were in other productions.
The Japan production double cast the national engines. In addition to the standard set, they also had...
Coco - from France
Pendelino - From Italy
Flying Hamburger - from Germany
Vladimir - from Russia
Nakamura - from Japan
Yamamoto - from Japan

In the Mexican production, the character of Ruhrgold was replaced by El Pibe, the train from Argentina
The character Bobo was replaced by Carioca from Brazil.

Trax

Race Marshall/Matinence Engine
The Race Marshalls have been around for a long time. They skate around waving flags and announcing the start and end of the races.
The character of Trax is a relatively new addition. He's a trick skater mostly - and he's the only character in Starlight Express ever to wear roller blades instead of roller skates.

Starlight Express Page

=========================
=========================

Rusty
	A Steam Engine Our Hero. ^_^ Rusty is the young steam engine who dreams of glory and the love of his favorite coach, Pearl As a steam engine, he's out of date and thus picked on by the newer modern engines He (sometimes reluctantly) continues to try to find the glory he's sure that he deserves. He whines a bit when things don't go his way, but he doesn't give up. And to further demonstrate that he's the hero of the story, he gets all of the pretty ballads.
Poppa
	A Steam Engine Poppa's cool. He's a grand old steam engine, just the sort that anyone thinks of when they come up with romantic images of powerful steamers rolling down the tracks. Once a great racer (holder of the championship title), he's now mostly retired and hangs out with the freight cars He serves as Rusty's mentor, giving the younger engine encouragement, or a shove to make Rusty stop sulking, depending on what's needed He has a rich deep baratone as his blues song requires
Greaseball
	A Diesel Engine One of the antagonists to the story, the blocking figure. Hailing from the US of A, he's the current champion of the Great Race, and he won't let anyone forget it. Modeled after a greaser from the 1950s, he's the resident tough guy and all of the girls love him, and he knows it. Together with his entourage of leather jacket wearing gang members, he enjoys making life difficult for Rusty Musically, Greaseball is all rock'n'roll
Electra
	An Electric Engine The newest, shiny-est Engine on the tracks. He's here to challange Greaseball for the title and nearly matches the diesel for attitude. Never seen without his entourage of components, Electra definately stands out in a crowd. He's another blocking figure as far as the romance element of the story goes. His music style, is fittingly enough, rather techno.

Pearl
	An Observation Coach Pearl's an observation car - a train coach with lots of big windows. She's the newest coach around and Rusty's love interest. She doesn't take life seriously and she's just out to have as much fun as she can, breaking a few hearts in the process. That said, she is the female lead in the show and everybody is after her, Rusty, Electra and Greaseball Aside from singing the love song at the end, she also gets her share of ballads, although originally she also had a spiffy 80s pop song
Dinah
	A Dining Car Cleverly named Dinah the dining car is a sweet southern belle dressed in an outfit resembling a tablecloth. She's Greaseball's coach for part of the show, until things go wrong for her, but like Rusty, she just needs a bit of encouragement to go after what she wants. Like Pearl, she also wants to be partnered to the championship engine - but she figures that it will be Greaseball. Her music style is a country-western ballad
Buffy
	A Buffet Car Equally cleverly named, Buffy appears to be older and more experienced than Pearl and Dinah. She's not as first class as the other two. Also out to have a good time at the races and find a suitable engine, she doesn't seem as dependent on it as the others. For the most part, she is there to advise Dinah when she needs it. Her song style is more girl rock.
Ashley
	A Smoking Car Now Ashley the smoking car is a bit creative. As a smoking car she's also a bit outdated. Never seen without a cigarette, she's trying and failing to kick the habit. Like Buffy, she's not as emotionally tied to the outcome of this race, although she does give Dinah advice when the dining car needs it. Her song style is more girl rock as well.
Belle
	A Sleeping Car The forgotten coach. Belle was in the original production of Starlight, but as the show evolved, her character got cut out. She's the oldest of the coaches, about Poppa's age, and as she's not as shiny any longer, she doesn't hang out with the rest of the coaches. But she is one that believes in Rusty and helps him, as well as giving advice to Dinah. She has a big brassy voice in her songs.

Rocky
	The Box Cars Actually there are three (or four) of them, known as Rocky 1, Rocky 2 and Rocky 3. They're box cars. Get it? Anyway, these freight cars are just all around cool guys. (Also sometimes known as the Hip Hoppers) They hang out with Poppa a lot, and they serve to get the audience and cast excited about the race They also try to talk some sense into Rusty when he is ready to give up. They rap :)
Flat Top
	A Brick Truck One of the freight train, he's the brat of the pack. He's friends with Dustin, but unlike the rest of the freight he prefers Greaseball to Rusty. He doesn't have a huge part in the show, but he's a lot of fun to watch in the background. He argues with Poppa, and joins Greaseball's gang for awhile before finally deciding where his real loyalites lie. Poor Flat Top doesn't have a song to himself, so I can't say what style of song he does
Dustin
	A Big Hopper Dustin is the largest of the freight cars, a large hopper. Sometimes he carries gravel and sometimes he carries aggregates. He's the largest, but he's also very self-concious of his size, so he's cutely quiet and shy. Dustin also dreams of being a great racer, but because of his size, no engine wants to take him. He'll just slow them down. Dustin does not really have a song to himself either, but he does have a song he sings counterpoint to Rusty
CB
	A Red Caboose Sometimes known as CB because of his radio, and sometimes just as caboose, he remains one of the more popular characters in the show, despite all of the cuts to his character. He always has a smile as he helps Greaseball, and Dinah, and Rusty, and Electra... Or does he really? Just who's side is he on? He has a wide range of songs, a pretty ballad and a rather 80s style song

Krupp
	An Armaments Truck One of Electra's most intimidating components, he mostly just hangs around with the others, looking scary. He rarely races - in most productions he doesn't - but he did in at least one show.
Wrench
	A Repair Truck Wrench is the most butch of all the female characters in the show. (And according to some, the real star) She's the repair truck, but I don't know how comfortable most cars would be asking for her help.
Purse
	A Money Truck Electra's slinky money truck, who is usually played as being rather effeminate. He is also Electra's messenger, as the engine sends him off to fetch his various racing partners.
Volta
	A Freezer Truck The coolest car on stage. It varies from production to production, but sometimes she is Electra's favorite component and sometimes she fills in to partner other racers.
Joule
	A Dynamite Truck The most explosive of the components. She has gone through the most dramatic costume changes over all. She also races with different engines in most of the shows.

Bobo
	French Engine The French TGV (train à grande vitesse, French for "high-speed train"), he comes in for the race. In the London Version, he races with Ashley and places second in the qualifying race for the final.
Espresso
	Italian Engine The Roman to Milan express - the Settebello. I don't know what that is, the most I found is that its a streamline train. He's mostly just there to fill in.
Ruhrgold/Weltshaft
	German Engine The German Engine, the ICE - the InterContinental Express. He started life as Weltshaft but had his name changed later. In the German production, he races with Joule and places second in the qualifying race for the final
Turnov
	Russian Engine The Trans-Siberian Express, the third longest railway in the world. It varies who he races with, but he doesn't win or place in any version.
Nintendo/Hashamoto
	Japanese Engine The Shinkansen Bullet Train. Which actually is the fastest train in the world, it set a world record at 361 mph In the US productions and the Japan productions he races with Volta and places second in the qualifiying race for the final
Prince of Wales
	British Train The poor Royal train. In each production (execpt the German one, where he is nonexistant) he is scrapped before he gets a chance to race. But this does give the steamers a place to race...

Trax
	Race Marshall/Matinence Engine The Race Marshalls have been around for a long time. They skate around waving flags and announcing the start and end of the races. The character of Trax is a relatively new addition. He's a trick skater mostly - and he's the only character in Starlight Express ever to wear roller blades instead of roller skates.