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The
Las
Vegas
Starlight
Express
Fan
Club
Presented and Written bt Diane Arellano. I recieved these fan club news letters every month in the mail from Diane and I like them very much so I'm going to share them with you!
Stories from thier issues
- "Tee time for Ernest"
- An interview with Ernest Marchain
- "Church Charm"
- An interview with Dawn Marie Church
- "Making contact with the train of the future"
- an interview with Eric Clausell
- COMING SOON!
- an interview with Lothair Eaton
- COMING SOON!
- an interview with Jennifer Bizik
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Introduction from the "Greg Ellis fan Association" also a part of the fan club
The Las Vegas Hilton has housed many entertainers and it's backstage has been a second home to the King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley. Presently, it is a station to a very special collection of trains which include steam, diesel, and electric. These trains are also known as the cast of the "Starlight Express." An extended family who comes together eight nights a week for an exciting musical performance.
Before Greg rides the rails, he walkes through the inner white corridors of the hotel until he comes to the backstage entrance. Walk forward and you are on the stage, but take the stairs down and one enters the place where the creation of "Rusty" and his fellow trains begin.
Greg arrives about an hour and a half before the show and checks the bulletin board for announcements and call times (a call time is when the actor is expected to be at work). On rehearsal days his call time is much earlier. Greg does not don a wig or wear much makeup so his transformation is rather quick. A few tracks on his cheeks, some makeup to bring out his eyes and lips and with his headband in place, he's almost ready to go.
The hairdresser has already started preparing the wigs for the other actors. Every wall of his wig room is decorated with shelves of faceless heads of hair identified by the characters name. The day I visited, "Pearls" hair was up in big curlers getting her locks in place.
Just past the wig room, is where the costumes are kept. There is only one costume per character, so tehy have to be handled and cleaned carefully and continually inspected for any needed repairs. To dry the costumes, a few at a time are hung infront of a huge standing fan. It reminds me of a wind tunnel.
Across the hall, the cast warms up in the hardwood floored rehearsal room. It contains a mirror paneled wall and furnished with only a piano.
Costumed and limbered up, Greg takes to the tracks by making his way up the carpeeted stairway to the narrow back hallway of the stage. Down the hall, a small room contains six chairs in a circle with another set of costumes in place for a quick change for a few cast members. Anotehr small room houses the orchestra, which is also seated in a circle, with the conduction watching the show on two monitors. The performers can also keep thier eyes on the conductor with the help of monitors throughout the theatre.
With everyone in place, the theatre quiets and the trains make thier way through the tunnels "This is control.. This is control" **Presented and Written by Diane Arellano**
How to contact the fan club if it still is
barber@ctaz.com
Starlight Express Fan Club
P.O. Box 35623
Las Vegas, Nevada 89133-5623
United States
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