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Final Call For Starlight

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The final curtain has fallen on Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria after 18 successful years. There have been 7,406 performances of the rollerskating musical, which has attrated more than eight million people and taken in excess of £140m at the box office.

Enthralled 

Some 9,000 lights have created the star effect on a set which has enthralled audiences since the first performance on March 27, 1984.

The production created history by being the first West End show to be performed solely on rollerskates.

Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber - who wrote the show for his two children, now in their 20s - and was present for the last show, said: "Starlight Express has had an amazing run.

"Its final performance will be very emotional for all of us who have been close to it for the past 18 years."

Dramas

Starlight Express has had its fair share of dramas over the years, including water damage to the £2m set when clothes were stuffed down a toilet during the interval. There was further disruption months later when a sewage pipe burst during a performance.

Despite the final curtain call, there are plans to take Starlight Express on a national tour. Another Lloyd-Webber musical, Bombay Dreams, will open at the Apollo in May.

Last Modified: 08:51 UK, Sunday January 13, 2002