This page seriously needs rewriting! I will do this soon (well, this year anyway (that's 2002, so you can all laugh at me when I don't do it...)). It's correct as of late 2001, I think.
There have been five static productions of Starlight Express worldwide, in London, New York, Bochum, Las Vegas and Mexico.
The original production of Starlight Express, and in my esteemed opinion, the best. Starlight Express opened at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road (opposite Victoria Station) on the 27th March, 1984, and is still playing there to this day, making it the second longest running musical in the history of the West End (Cats being the longest, having had a three year head start). The 7000th performance was on 9th January 2001, and I was there. The production was partially revised (without closing) in 1992/93. It is estimated that around seven million people have seen the show, which cost over £2 million to mount, making it at the time the most expensive musical seen in the West End. Six miles of timber, 60 tons of steel and 6000 lightbulbs were used to transform the inside of the theatre. The racetrack is a quarter of a mile long.
When the show was revised the most notable changes were the removing of the characters of Belle (the sleeping car) and CB (the brake truck). Also, several new songs were written - including 'Crazy' and 'Next Time You Fall In Love' (lyrics by Don Black). Apparently (according to several current cast members), another rewrite was planned for March 1999, and then March 2000, but neither went ahead through lack of funds. The London production of Starlight Express will close on the 12th January 2002.
The London production is the one I've seen most often and know most about, so a fair amount of this site is based on it. I have several cast lists, and two versions of the plot - the original, and the final plot. Notes on the theatre and the staging can be found here.
The Broadway show was the second production of Starlight Express. It opened at the Gershwin Theatre on the 15th of March, 1987, and closed on the 8th of January, 1989, after 761 performances. Revisions made before the Broadway opening include several new songs - 'Make up my Heart', 'Wide Smile', and 'Engine of Love' (lyrics partly by Peter Reeves). This was also the only other show to include the character of Belle, although CB survives to this day in Bochum.
No cast recording was made, but a concept album of the show was produced in 1987 and is still available - see the Discography for more details. Castlists are here.
Starlight Express opened at the specially built Starlight-Express-Theater in Bochum, Germany, in May 1988. This production is the other that is still playing today, and the show has proved amazingly popular to the German audience. A 3D model of the theatre can be found at the STELLA Musical World site.
I saw the German production twice in July 2001, and thanks to the sterling efforts of Karin Berg and Bettina Pfeiffer I have quite a lot of information on it. I have complete cast lists of the show, from 1988 to the present day. Information on the three German CDs is in the Discography.
Starlight Express played at the Las Vegas Hilton from 14th September 1993 to 30th November 1997, before being replaced by 'Star Trek: The Experience'. It was unusual in that the show was only 90 minutes long, with no interval, and with some of the main songs cut to shorten the show. The reason for this is unclear (to me, anyway). There are several very good sites about the Las Vegas production - see the links page - so I won't attempt very much on this one. I do however have all the cast lists apart from one.
The show played at the Teatro Polanco in Mexico City for two months, from December 1997 to February 1998. Economic reasons have been blamed for the show's untimely demise. A recording was made but never sold (due, I believe, to problems with the rights), and there are copies of it floating around.
And there have been three tours - of Japan and Australia, of the US and Canada, and 'Starlight on Ice', which did a brief US tour.
This tour ran in 1988. It appears to have been a very strange production, with a huge stage (it was set up in empty stadiums), and duplicates of some of the characters. I have the cast of this production. The highlights album is not available any longer, though if you're lucky you might find it on Ebay.
The only tour to use actual theatres, with a very creative stage. I have the cast list and the songlist.
An extremely innovative production, that ran in 1997 (it was closed before the end of its run). The costumes in particular were very unusual and creative. I should have more information on this production soon, but for the moment I have the cast list, and some photos from the production.