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- [00:00]
A
Oh, my God. Hey. Sophie. Rose Middleton.
- [00:03]
B
Hello. It's so good to meet you.
- [00:04]
A
Very nice to meet you. So we're here to see the iconic, long running production of Starlight Express that you are currently performing in, starring as Pearl. I have so many questions about this experience because I think it's a really unique production. It's also a really unique show. What was your journey coming to this production of Starlight Express?
- [00:27]
B
I actually had a bit of a prolonged journey. I auditioned when I was 18 and I was put on hold for the job for like two months. And then they messaged saying, oh, the role is no longer available. So that was my first, like, oh, okay, I'm not going to be in it. But I just felt in my soul, I honestly thought I was. I have to do this show. I have to do it the next year. I got cut first round, which made absolutely no sense. I was like, have I got worse? Oh, no. But it just proves the point of your. When your time is right. And then I came back like five years later and I booked Pearl, which is crazy because I don't think if, when I was 18, I don't think I would have ever actually booked Pearl. I think I would have been a swing. And so coming back and being able to actually be first cast leading lady for this production that's been running for 36 years has just been like the biggest honor. And I feel so grateful and so lucky just to be in the building, never mind playing the lead role. So, yeah, that's my sort of journey getting here. Yeah.
- [01:28]
A
And so you joined this production in which year?
- [01:31]
B
Last year, which is 2024, and we came in February. And the whole process is like a four month training program and that includes skating and learning German and learning the whole show. So it sounds like quite a long time to learn a show, but when you cut it down into four months, it's actually really quite a lot to learn. Yeah, I didn't speak German before, I didn't skate before. It was all freshly learned here in the building.
- [01:56]
A
Yeah, yeah. This is an interesting sort of dynamic of the cast here because there are many British performers, there are also German performers and it's a really international ensemble. So something people may not realize is that you are learning to perform the show in German as well as, you know, learning the music, learning the script and learning to do it on wheels as well.
- [02:17]
B
Yes, for sure. That's definitely a part. A lot of people aren't sure if we had previous skating training or, you know, if everyone could speak generic German. I mean, people are from all over the world here. Like, we. We all come with different dialects, different accents. They have to teach individually to every single person's accent. So they'll have people from southeast London and then they'll have people from Wales. And we have to be taught differently because the way we understand vowels is completely different. And then for the skate training, everyone just starts from basics. Even if you've had some training, they literally strip you back. It's like drama school when you start doing ballet for the first time, you know, after you've trained for six years, they want everyone to be a blank slate because they want everyone to be able to skate exactly the same. There's lots of rules that we follow when we skate to make sure that we are not going rogue. Basically, everyone has the same sort of stride or the same press of the foot or direction or how to signal if you're changing direction, and all these sort of, like, secret things that we all know.
- [03:13]
A
It's like driving.
- [03:14]
B
It is like driving. We are fully driving trains.
- [03:18]
A
But it's the skating of it I'm so intrigued about, because when you said before cut in the first round, that's not wheels yet, that's just doing the material.
- [03:27]
B
I was just auditioned with vocals and dancing. There was no training in, or I guess testing in our skateability. They do one test, which is the sort of. In the industry, the big Starlight Express. Like, oh, did they do the test where you have to squat down and, like. I don't know, you have to sort of squat down and they see if your Achilles or can stretch that far. But honestly, I think most people can do it. And if you can't, people are still here that can't do it, that can skate. So you'll be fine. They're just testing to see if you have that flexibility to be able to bend your knees in the skates. Because the whole thing when you're in skates is you have to keep your knees bent.
- [04:08]
A
But there's some sort of skating audition before skate school or.
- [04:11]
B
No, not here. No, I know they do. For the London production and they had a full round of audition just to see if you could skate. But here you literally just base it off of your dance ability. So that they do take a bit of a bit of a risk. And we are. When we come here, we're on a probation period. So for some people, it doesn't always work out and you don't always find your feet on the wheels. So, unfortunately, you won't make it through the skate school. But they have such an incredible program here. It's been running for 36 years. They know what they're doing. Michael Fraley, who is the sort of designer of the skate program, he knew what he was doing. He wrote it from basics, and he's trained everyone in every production around the world. And I think carrying on his legacy now into how they train us now, they adapt a few things and they make it a bit more current, and they'll let us skate to music instead of rhythms. And they're sort of developing it, but they're definitely holding the ground of what he originally designed it to be. And it works. You know, you get 36 people learning to skate, and it's just incredible. I'm mind blown. I don't even quite believe I can do it every day.
- [05:18]
A
Yeah, trust the process. Listen, but I'm curious what prior skating experience you had? Had. Did you skate as a child? You roller skated?
- [05:27]
B
Not really. I mean, I went to Roller City in Welling, Garden City. I have not had serious skate training, but funny enough, in Covid, me and my friend were like, let's learn to roller skate. And so we just decided to buy a pair of roller skates. And I look back at videos and it was literally just like rolling forward and maybe a little bit of a lean and a turn of direction, but there was no skill involved. I had no skill. There was nothing. I just had the basic rolling forward and backwards and then that was it. I did not know how to skate before this.
- [05:57]
A
So at 18, when you were like, Starlight Express, Dream show, that was on the basis of, like, not being a strong skater. Just really wanted to be a train.
- [06:06]
B
I just. I really wanted to be a train. Well, I also think me as a performer, if anyone knows me as a person, I love a challenge. And there was something about this production that when I looked at performers who were in it, I thought they were just so incredible. I really looked to them as like, oh, my gosh, you're like this quadruple threat. You're singing, dancing, acting, and you're rolling and roller skates. And I. I love a challenge. And I was. I wanted to almost prove to myself that I could do that too, and I could be where they are and learn the skill that they've learned. And learning it in German, that was a whole thing as well. And I think there was just something so impressive and exciting about going forward into that challenge that wasn't just, I'm learning a musical. There was just so much more to unlock in that. And I think that's what sort of made it really advertised to me. And also the fact that it's Starlight Express, it's this legendary musical, and to perform in this theater, oh, my gosh, I don't think I'll ever perform in anything this epic again. It's this. It's a stadium. It's absolutely incredible. You can't compare it to anything else. It's been built specifically for this production. I think all of those elements together were just. I didn't care what I played. I thought I just want to be in it. So I think that's kind of what brought me to want to keep coming back and keep auditioning.
- [07:33]
A
What is that energy like when you're performing that stadium full of people and you are racing past them on roller skates doing this high octane, crazy show? What does that feel like?
- [07:46]
B
I think during the main parts of the show, for me, I can't see them a lot of the time. It's very dark for me in my scenes. But there's parts where I sort of have to look at the audience and engage. And there's a moment in one of my solos where I can look down into the middle part of the paddock and there's always a small child that's looking up like. And singing along, and I can't get through the rest of the time. I have to look away because it's the sweetest thing on the planet. And I just think seeing what this magic of theater does so up and close and personal is so incredible. But the biggest part for me, and it's every single show, this show gets a standing ovation every single night. And that's not being like. It's just like, I feel good. Everyone's up on their feet and everyone's having a good time. And when everyone stands up and they're cheering and clapping, oh, it's so exciting. And it's just. You feel the energy coming back at you and it just makes this, you know, the whole two and a half hours of heaving around worth it.
- [08:52]
A
Had you seen the show in the UK prior to doing it?
- [08:56]
B
No. So I actually. I booked Pearl the week they announced that they were going to do London. But I have been back and seen it and it's completely different production and it has so many new roles and characters and the costume design. Like, I definitely think it's worth seeing both. I think they both offer something completely different to each other. I think here the whole selling point is it's the stadium and the Purpose built theatre and a bit closer to the original story. Yeah. Whereas London is a completely new revival and they've really lifted it into sort of the now times and the new designs of everything. And the orchestration is stunning. Oh my God. I remember when I was sitting in the audience and I just heard sort of the start of Make Up My Heart and Starlight Express, it's just. Oh, I love the orchestrations there. They're absolutely beautiful.
- [09:50]
A
Now you'd done Cats before Amirah Insang. So this I think, because a lot of people love Starlight Express, there is a huge love for Starlight Express of like the die hard fans. And then there are a lot of people who I speak to and they're like, oh yeah, Starlight Express, I've heard of that show. I might go see that show. And I'm like. And I say they're singing trains and they're like, they are what? And there are still people who don't quite understand, but I think Cats is a great entry point to getting like, oh, that's how that show works and that's how this show works. And almost in the same way for performers as well. They're both these iconic sort of mega musicals from the 80s that are kind of, if that's within your skill set, I guess, bucket list shows to do.
- [10:33]
B
Yeah. I mean, for me, I never ever thought I was gonna get the opportunity to do Cats. I mean, it was like a very, very far fetched dream. I mean, my agent at the time, like we laughed about it, they messaged him, I was actually availability checked for it and he was like, cats, have availability checked you? And I was like, what? And now I've done it. It is absolutely a show that I feel that I should have done and I'm so grateful to have done. And like you said, there's like these mega musicals that are like huge sort of cult following and cosplayers come to watch. And where I did it, I did the sort of international Korean Taiwan tour. And the fans out there are just incredible. I've never experienced an audience like it. They are so beautifully polite in the theater. They just sit and watch, sitting. There's no eating, there's no shouting. They just sit and receive and they really do like, believe your cats. And they get so excited. I think having that experience, being able to do that choreography. And I still to this day cannot believe I had the absolute honour of performing the Jellicle Ball every night. I don't think I'll ever, ever get over hearing that music and Doing that choreography, it truly was, I think, one of the biggest achievements and thrills of my performing life so far. It was so special. And again, if you think you're not right for something, go for it anyway, because you never know. And I think coming from something like that, I had to do a small part of singing in Korean for every audience or place that we were. We honored the country we were in, and I had to learn a different language. And I think that was actually the sort of start of me believing that I could learn the German here. And I was like, well, I learned it in Korean. I could learn a whole musical in German. So even just from, like, four bars of eight in a different language, I think it gave me the confidence. And also swinging. I was a swing on Cats, and I was. I think that just sort of built my confidence and skill level to a point where I actually believed I could do something this crazy as being here and learning to roll a skate and learning German and doing a whole musical.
- [12:51]
A
Okay, I have to follow up then on. So which Cats did you swing on for?
- [12:55]
B
In the Cats tour, I played Elektra, which is an onstage swing character. Then I covered Demeter, Tantamal, Jemima. And then I also. We had a bit of an emergency situation. I actually ended up going on for a couple of male roles, so I went on for Cora Kapat.
- [13:13]
A
Amazing.
- [13:14]
B
And then I also went on for Bill Bailey. One show. I'm not. I'm not a Tumblr, but I did my best. And I also did parts of Cobukty as well. And the. Honestly, it was like an in the moment, I think we were in the interval, and my resident came over and he was like, can you learn this track? And I was like, I'll give it a good go. So I just went, but you know what? I did it. And I was so proud of myself. But, yeah, so I think that show is crazy. Like, when people are down, there's so many cats on stage. There are so many things going on, and everyone was being used. So I was the last resort. I gave it a good go.
- [14:00]
A
I'm just stuck on. There's just. There's so many cats on stage.
- [14:03]
B
There's so many cats on stage. Have you seen it? There's so many.
- [14:08]
A
That, for me, was one of the shows, like, the VHS of that. Watching that at my grandma's house at, like, 5 years old was a thing. And we were always aware of Starlight Express, but it was never recorded in the same way. So it was like this mythical Thing, but it always had the similarities of, like, the way that the show works and how they both speak to, like, kids and young audiences and really capture that sense of wonder. I'm intrigued then, because you said when you were auditioning for it, when you were 18 for Starlight, and you were thinking maybe for a swing track, whatever. Is there a role, if you weren't having the wonderful opportunity to play Pearl, that you would look at and think, I'd like to try that of an afternoon. If something went very wrong and they got desperate and they would say, you need to play this role, as ridiculous as it might seem, genderless here, entirely up to you.
- [14:59]
B
I would love to give Dustin a go. I'd really enjoyed that track. I think it's just really good fun and I'd love to give it a go.
- [15:12]
A
I'm excited to see. I forgot he was still in this production because he's not in London. Oh, that's going to be fun.
- [15:16]
B
There's a lot of characters here that aren't in the London production. And, yeah, I think they're super fun and I think. I don't know, they're just really fun characters and they just sort of add little sprinkles of, like, goodness and laughs into the show. And I love it.
- [15:31]
A
What's the experience like as an actor doing something in a different language? Doing something because I guess you want to get to a place where you have complete understanding of everything. You're not just learning it by rote because you want to know the intention and the meaning and everything. Even when. Even when it's singing trains skating around an auditorium. What's that like?
- [15:53]
B
I think this is definitely something I played with a lot because it's very easy in something like Starlight Express to get wrapped up in the sort of not saying it's pantomime, but the pantomime feel of like, oh, we're just singing trains. But actually to tell these stories and the reason it's connected to so many people is. Is because there's real life connection of feeling to what we feel in real life and why so many people love it is because they want to be. They feel like the Pearl or they feel like the Rusty, and they feel like, you know, they connect to these characters. So you. You have to play it with the truth. And so singing it in a different language adds a whole other layer of. You really have to know what you're talking about. And when we're learning the phonetics, it is literally just phonetics. We're learning sounds and so once you've learned the sounds with our creative team, we then go back and set the scenes, and then they'll go, what are you saying here? And then I remember one time I was like, I actually don't know. I need to check my script. But everything in the script is written in German and then underneath has a English translation. Sometimes it's a bit of a rough translation, but during the rehearsal process, we discuss the things of like, oh, no, I think she would feel this, and I think she would actually react like this. And after the rewrite in 2018, they completely changed the role of Pearl, which is why she's not pink anymore. They created this whole new element of her being this. She comes into the. Into the group fresh and new. The. The little boy says, oh, I've saved up all my pocket money to get the first class train. And he plunks her down into the. Into the playset and she comes out that, like this absolute boss. And she's really powerful and she's really strong and she knows what she wants. And I think it was my biggest task was trying to get that across without coming across, like, too sassy of a girl. The audience still have to love her and still have to feel like she wants. They want them to get together, Rusty and Pearl. And I think the biggest thing from German to English for me was knowing the full statement. So the whole line says, can you whistle for me? You do it so sweetly. Like, how would I say that in English? And then how do I say that in German? Because the inflict inflections are different. So I would say, oh, but you do that so sweetly. But the German version of that would be, but you do that so sweetly. So I have to find what actually makes sense in German with my phonetics teacher. And she'll go, no, that. That sounds correct. And then it goes opposite to my brain, but then I have to place it in a part of my brain that feels true, but it is hard. It is a big challenge, and you can just say the words. But what does that do for the audience? They don't connect to what you're feeling and what story you're telling. So I definitely think it's a. It's a task to try and get right, but do it all right.
- [18:55]
A
And then you're also living here, doing this as well. What would you say to young performers who want to take these opportunities but are maybe a little intimidated by the prospect of moving to a different country or doing an international tour, doing a cruise contract, and sort of being Immersed in that world of the job and being completely away from everything they know.
- [19:18]
B
I feel very passionately about this subject. I think every person, especially if you're young or a new grad, take the traveling opportunity. You can earn so much money on a cruise line and you can save it and then that's banked and that's such a good setup for your life. Or if you have to pay off your, you know, your training debt, such a great start. Travel, travel, travel, travel. It is the most incredible thing, meeting cast members from around the world, meeting different cultures, learning new things, separating yourself from your hometown and everything you've always known. It's, it's hard and it's big, a big brave step. But I just think it is the best thing you'll ever do for your own growth. And also it gives you an opportunity to work with creatives that you'd never worked with before. I mean, I was so fortunate with who I got to work with. When I did Footloose, I did the original Broadway creatives. I'd never worked with them in the uk and even six they, they flew out and they had the UK production, original creatives teach us the show there again, that's another opportunity. And then even just down to just take the leap, just take the job, take the leap, give it a try. If you don't like it, it'll be over in a couple of months. But at the end of the day, you're performing and really, isn't that what we've all just dreamed of doing it? Just being in the room, being creative, meeting new people, just showing your talent, presenting to an audience. As long as for me, as long as I'm doing that, I honestly could be anywhere in the world. I just, I just want that opportunity to actually be there and be with the people and feel like I'm actually doing it. Doing what like 12 year old me always dreamed of doing. And I think that's, I actually said to my agent before I got this job, I want to stick to sort of West End UK tour. I'd been away my whole career traveling. I was like, right, we're going to hone in on London. Literally. It's my first audition back after Cats. It was one week that lasted and then they offered me pow. And I was like, well, I'm going to Germany. So that all. I never saw that coming. But this has been one of the best things I've ever done. And I, to be honest, I wasn't sure about moving to Germany, but it's an amazing place and there's so much to see and so much to do. You know, when you go a little bit outside of Bachem and everywhere, so accessible. But to be here with this show in this theater that's been running for 36 years, I couldn't say no to that opportunity. So I think if you get an opportunity to do any sort of travel with this job, take it and then make your decision.
- [21:55]
A
And if people want to find out a little bit more about what this job has been like for you, you've been documenting it on social media and showing what people can expect from Starlight. Where can we find you on socials.
- [22:07]
B
To go and see that at Sophie Rose Middleton? I have my Instagram, my TikTok. I. I mainly started my TikTok because I just thought there's so much that happens out here that no one actually knows about. And I know when I was looking to come out here, I think there was one person that had sort of done a YouTube channel that I was, that was watching, like, how was going to happen? Where am I going to live? How are you going to survive? But actually it wasn't scary. And I just hope that if you do see my sort of like skate training videos or, you know, I have some, like, funny fools in there, it says, I hope you find it as entertaining as we found it to experience it. And hopefully it gives anyone sort of that's looking to audition or maybe to come here soon a bit more confidence in the joy that we've had and the excitement of the experience. So I hope that that makes people feel excited. Yeah.
- [23:00]
A
Well, if we weren't already excited to see the show this afternoon, I cannot wait to see you in it. Thank you for taking the time to chat to us and we will see you on the track.
- [23:09]
B
Thank you so much for having me.
- [23:12]
A
For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh, my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.