Pearl the Observation Car
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Pearl is the "new girl" character and female lead in the West End musical Starlight Express. She is a railway observation carriage, although in Germany she is referred to as the "first class car". Rusty is madly in love with her but when he asks her to race with him, she rejects him, explaining her reason that she has "a train I dream about, an engine moved by steam" who is the engine for her. She first races with Electra and then, with Greaseball after he dumps Dinah. During the final race, she is too interested in watching Rusty and isn't paying attention to the race itself. Greaseball uncouples her mid race, causing her to nearly crash. At the last moment, she is saved by Rusty. While the race continues, she slips away to think, and finally realizes that Rusty has been the one for her all along.
Perla is the name that was given to Pearl in the 1997 Mexican production, Expreso Astral, that played at the Teatro Polanco in Mexico City. Many of the characters were given new, more Spanish names in this production. Perla's biggest songs were Me Chiflará (He'll Whistle at Me), No Resiste Mi Corazón (Make Up My Heart, literally translates as: "My Heart Does not resist " ) and Si Buscas Otro Amor (Next Time You Fall in Love, literally translates as "If You look for Another Love").
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[edit] Pearl's character
Pearl is young and innocent, often played by teenagers (notably 16 year old Maria Jane Hyde, and 17 year old Kim Leeson), but has a dramatic change in character during the show. She lets down two of her closest friends—Rusty, when she breaks her promise to race with him, and later Dinah, when she steals Greaseball. In the mocking "Laughing stock", she stands by and does nothing as Greaseball and Electra (and their respective entourages) taunt Rusty. She starts to see the error of her ways when Greaseball uncouples her during the final, leaving her to be rescued by Rusty. She then realises who her real friends are.
[edit] Inspiration
The character of Pearl is possibly based on Olivia Newton-John. This is most obvious in the earlier productions, but the UK tour now has her down as a kind of 21st century girl-band singer . Her name, Pearl, is due to the fact she is a Pullman Car. Pullman named some of their coaches after precious stones, as well as mythological characters, flowers and popular names of the time.
[edit] Classification
What type of carriage Pearl represents changed throughout the productions. The one which stuck throughout is, of course "Pearl the Observation Car" but she has been called "Pearl the First Class car" (Germany) and "Perla" (Mexico).
[edit] Choreography
Pearl, like Electra , is one of the show's leading dance roles. Half her character is carried in her individual style of moving. Her number, such as 'Make Up My Heart' and 'He'll Whistle At Me' are accompanied by very balletic, yet contemporary routines. She has lots of 'signature moves' that are personal to her. One of the most common moves is the imitation of Rusty's arm movement, (although she does not have her hands in fists as he does). This is most likely some representation of her facination with steam locomotives. Others, include a sweeping hand movement in 'He'll Whistle At Me', some kind of imitation of an Electra move in verse two of 'Make Up My Heart', and sweeping movement into her well known 'pose' (see picture of Gemma Atkins further down this page). She even has her own way of pirouetting - cluthing her hands to her heart and stopping with a balance on the stopper of her skate.
[edit] Major Songs
Original London
- "Call me Rusty" - Quintet with Rusty, Ashley, Dinah and Buffy
- "A Lotta Locomotion" - Quartet with Dinah, Buffy, and Ashley
- "He Whistled at me" - Solo
- "Only He" - Solo
- "Only You" - Duet with Rusty
Revised London
- "A Lotta Locomotion" - Quartet with Dinah, Buffy, and Ashley
- "He'll Whistle at me" - Solo
- "Crazy" - Quintet with Rusty, Ashley, Dinah and Buffy
- "Make up My Heart" - Solo
- "Next time you fall in love" - Duet with Rusty
Bochum
- "Leibesexpress" - Quintet with Rusty, Ashley, Dinah and Buffy(Translates as: Love train. English equivalent: Engine of Love) (Later shortened)
- "Ne Lok mit Locomotion" - Quartet with Dinah, Buffy, and Ashley (Translates as: "A Locomotive with locomotion", English Equivalent: A Lotta Locomotion)
- "Crazy" - Quintet with Rusty, Ashley, Dinah and Buffy(added to the show in 2003)
- "Hilf mir verstehen" - Solo (Translates as: "Help me to understand", English Equivalent: Make up my heart)
- "Allein im Licht der Sterne" or "Du allein" - Duet with Rusty (Translate as: Alone in the Starlight, and You alone, English Equivalents: Next time you fall in love, and Only You )
Japan/Australia tour
- "Engine of Love" - Quintet with Rusty, Ashley, Dinah and Buffy
- "A Lotta Locomotion" - Quartet with Dinah, Buffy, and Ashley
- "Make up My Heart" - Solo
- "Only You" - Duet with Rusty
US and UK tours
- "A Whole Lotta Locomotion" - Quartet with Dinah, Buffy, and Ashley
- "He'll Whistle at me" - Solo
- "Crazy" - Quintet with Rusty, Ashley, Dinah and Buffy
- "Make up My Heart" - Solo
- "Next time you fall in love"(US and early UK) or "Only He/You"(UK) - Duet with Rusty
Expreso Astral
- "No Resiste Mi Corazón" - Solo
- "Si Buscas Otro Amor" - Duet with Rusty
- "Me Chiflará" - Solo
[edit] Costume
Over previews in the 1984 London production, Pearl went through at least four separate costumes. Two outfits were a combination of hot pink with black, while the others were pink and white, as they tried to establish what best suited her character. They settled on a mostly white design, with black piping and a puffball skirt. From 1992 onwards she had "Observation" written across the front of her costume and "PM" (Short for Pullman) on her skirt in London, as this was the costume Reva Rice had worn on Broadway and the US Tour. The base was a salmon pink.
The Bochum, Japan/Australia, first US tour and "New" London productions all used the Broadway design, with the all-over pink lycra, paneled skirt with the 'PM' monogram and 'Observation' on a panel across the chest. In London the design was soon adapted and altered, since the designs were flexible there, and lost the 'Observation' panel in favour of a visible cleavage, influenced by Las Vegas redesign.
Although the Las Vegas production initially used the Coaches' costumes from the first US tour, they were soon changed to suit their environment. The leggings came off, the necklines plunged and the skirts shrunk. This was the costume used on the second US tour, and the design came over for the UK tour. Pearl's skirt lost its front panel revealing the crotch of her leotard, and the 'PM' monogram with it. It was replaced by an 'PRR' monogram on her belt, which is the symbol of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company (also represented on Caboose).
For the obscure Starlight on Ice production, Pearl's colours changed as well as her whole outfit design. There is no pink but only silver and blue. She wore a skirt fashioned as a wheel around her waist, but it's much shorter than in the original productions. She wore gloves that looked like metal framed windows and wore a small hat.
[edit] Wigs
Pearl usually has a pink wig, but there have been instances (Reva Rice on Broadway, Lovette George in Bochum) where she either hasn't had a wig at all, or it has been black.
Lovette George's wig was the standard style of topknot with braids and a huge fringe, and great long curls, with lots of sparkly bits pinned in, just made up of black hair rather than pink. Reva Rice originally had no wig at all, which had the unfortunate effect of making the back of her black hair disappear into the background, making her head appear to be about half the size of everyone else's. She also had her hair styled into a bun, presumably to give the look of a ballet dancer, rather than a top-knot. After Broadway, though, she wore a pink wig like everyone else.
In the London production, Pearl's pink wig had a topknot style with a clip behind it. In America, she had a "chimney" styled accessory which made her topknot stand up. In Bochum, she has a topknot with a tiara round it. Now it is a pink/ purple with black streeks. In Starlight on Ice, she had a simple ponytail style. She had, rather than pink hair, blonde hair in that production.
Until recently, with the above exceptions, Pearl has always had a variety of pink hair styles. For the recent US and current UK tours however, the delicate pink wig has been removed in favour of a dark beige blonde colour, which ends just at her shoulders. Presumably the decision to give her a more 'realistic' colour and style was made in a momentary lapse of memory of the fact that Pearl is the anthropomorphic embodiment of a toy railway carriage in a child's dream.
[edit] Actresses
Although initially played by the mature Stephanie Lawrence, Pearl's part is written for a young, musical-theatre soprano. Some of her songs have at times been transposed down for mezzo sopranos to sing.
In Bochum, Pearl is almost always understudied by the actress playing Dinah. Most actresses play Pearl after a year of playing Dinah due to knowing the part so well. These include;
- Nina Pressing
- Clarissa Grace Quinlan
- Rachael Wooding
- Amanda Coutts
- Katie Stewart
Danni Kearsley-Wooller(now Wing) understudied all of the coaches in London(first as Ashley, then as a swing), frequently going on as Pearl, and went on to play Pearl in the German production.
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London
Broadway Japan/Australia
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First US Tour Bochum
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Japan Tour
Las Vegas
Mexico
On Ice
Second US tour
UK Tour
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n.b. this list does not contain understudies, and several of the actresses mentioned played the part more than once in a production.
[edit] Musical Showstar
In Germany, a televised search for a musical theatre star ran March - April 2008. This was won by Anna-Maria Schmidt, and may result in the first ever native German Pearl. However she has yet be confirmed to be taking the role, which will start in June 2008.[1]
