This update of a classic 1980s musical showed that even nostalgia can look to the future.
I took my friend to see Starlight Express at Wembley Troubadour, neither of us ever having seen it but both knowing it had something to do with roller skates.
A 1984 hit with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, it has been given a complete 'into the future' make-over that neither of us was prepared for.
Sat close in a row next to the stage, we got an idea of what was to come when one of the marshalls suggested my friend keep her elbow by her side or suffer the consequences.
The auditorium at the Troubadour was specially designed for this production - now on an extended run - which features roller-skating on tracks right next to the audience.
It was a total sensory overload, with pyrotechnics, flashing and strobe lighting effects, and simulated sparks and flames, never mind the incredible costumes.
The story starts with a young boy playing with his toy trains, announcing it is race night and being told by his mother to go to sleep.
Then the boy's hanging planets mobile expands, his trains pop into life and the audience is swept into a glorious history of locomotives on steroids.
Obsolete steam engine Rusty must race in a championship against modern diesel and electric engines in the hope of impressing a first-class observation car, Pearl.
Now we all know children have wild dreams - but as my friend said this was "batshit crazy".
All of characters were on roller skates, bar two on scooters who performed spectacular acrobatics.
The skaters themselves whizzed around the auditorium and there were large screens showing the action so the audience didn't have to crane their heads, with race information of who was in first second and third place.
The costumes were incredible, with performers made to look like trains - right down to upholstered carriages and shimmering engines. Electra came complete with inflatable lightning bolts.
The music, having never seen an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, was incredible, highlighting different genres from rock and electro pop to blues and giant power ballads.
A carriage dumped by her engine during the race can't say the words she feels so spells them out Tammy Wynette style.
The lyrics, at time seeming wanting, were at other moments inspired. Hydra - hydrogen, the fuel of the future, dressed green from top to toe to signify net zero climate ambitions, sings 'not if, when'.
Midway through the second half there was a "fluid spill" - had somebody had a mishap with their drink? - and the audience was asked to be patient while theatre staff made the set safe for the skaters.
It was reminiscent of station closures when things grind to a halt for repairs to take place.
This was slightly amusing because for all the technology to create twinkling stars and explosions, it required a man with a mop to clean it all up - we're not at robots yet.
Despite the 'leaves on the line' moment, this production was spectacularly larger than life, energising and enormous fun and my musical-hating friend found it impossible to fall asleep through, even after a long day.
Now if that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.
Starlight Express is now booking until March 2026. Visit https://www.troubadourtheatres.com/wembley-park-theatre for information.
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