The little engine that couldn't

IT wouldn't be fair to compare Starlight Express to classic musicals like Phantom of the Opera, Evita, or Cats. But since it also falls under musical theatre giant Andrew Lloyd Webber's brand name, comparisons are inevitable.

As an Andrew Lloyd Webber production, it felt like the runt of the litter that's trying too hard, while as a musical in general, it lacked heart more severely than the Tin Man thought he did in The Wizard of Oz.

Starlight Express is about a child who dreams about his toy train set coming to life. Actors act as locomotives, zipping across the stage on rollerskates in breathtaking synchrony while dressed in a variety of dazzling costumes. They are the ones that the underdog steam engine Rusty intends to challenge in a race to be named the "fastest engine in the world".