When I was a child I went to see Starlight Express in 1996. Won over in only the way a 7-year-old can be by a theatre full of people on roller skates pretending to be trains, I took my glossy program with me everywhere for months, until my baby cousin decided it would look better smeared in my aunt's lipstick. Bereft as I was, it didn't matter, I already knew the power of musical theatre, Starlight Express had bitten me and I have never recovered.

Nearly 30 years later, the small child in me was more than excited last night at the Wembley Park theatre as I took my trackside (perilously close but protected by a safety rail) seat for this much-anticipated revival. The newly retooled auditorium buzzed with chatter as people exclaimed over Tim Hatley's set and Andrzej Goulding's jaw-dropping video design, already imagining the sheer madness of actors on skates navigating the tracks that thread through it, or the half-pipe that dominates the stage. 

That's what Starlight is at its heart, sheer madness. A fever dream that originated after Lloyd Webber had done Cats, reaching back to an earlier attempt to adapt Thomas The Tank Engine and adding the 80s obsession with roller skating into the mix. I'm not saying it's just Cats with Trains, but if you've seen the latter you may agree. Though there is a smidge more story here, as aside from just introducing themselves, these trains are all gearing up for the big championship race under the watchful eye of the controller. 

From the first bars of the gloriously high-keyed soundtrack to the Finale, this Starlight is a nostalgic visual spectacular that manages to be both as good as I remember and fairly fresh - I didn't even realise that the 'rapping' that 1984's critics were so aggrieved by, was original, it felt so in line with today's musical theatre landscape. There are some new songs from Lloyd Webber's son, that sit well in next to the classics adding a lick of perhaps SIX-inspired self-confidence. That's not the only SIX connection, costume designer Gabrielle Slade brings her retro-futuristic style from Henry's Queens to the track, creating textured costumes that variably glitter, smoke, and light up as the cast glide around the stage, giving each character distinction and also perhaps most importantly, plenty of arm and knee pads!

Many of the cast are making their professional debuts and some even their skating debuts. A rigorous pre-show boot camp applied to turn them into pros, they are all pretty gobsmacking, able to sing, dance, and skate as they navigate that centre stage half pipe, under the choreographic hand of Ashley Nottingham and Skate Coordinator Luke Zammit, it looks fluid and easy.

As our central lovers, underdog steam train Rusty (Jeevan Braicj) and sparkly new carriage Pearl (Kayna Montecillo) are cute, though their instant 'love at first toot' does run a bit thin, but is buoyed by great numbers. Their duet 'Only You' is now a (much better) massive set piece sung by Jade Marvin as the titular Train Jesus/Momma. The rest of the ensemble (too many to mention all but standouts were Al Knott as Greaseball, Eve Humphrey as Dinah and Tom Pilgrim as the brilliantly villainous Electra) do a fantastic job, understanding the assignment as genderless trains and their various power sources personified as they set up for the big race. And on the subject of power sources, there's a surprising environmental message here. Hydrogen, the self-proclaimed 'power of the future' proves integral, connecting with Rusty's old steam power engine to eventually win the big race. Just don't question the science.

I think I might have used up my monthly quota of superlatives, but this frenzied extravaganza deserves it. The second show from ALW's new production company, Lloyd Webber Harrison, it's clear that someone has said 'theatre, but bigger!' and that promise has been delivered on. This isn't a regular show, it's something else, more immersive, more memorable and yes, more expensive, but if the age range of the audience (from 8 - 80 around me) is anything to go by, this is a universally loved and to be loved show. Cats with Trains, yes but what's wrong with that when it's this entertaining?

My favourite question from my Starlight virgin friend who joined me:

"Do they really worship Train Jesus?" Yes they do, and so do I!