Greaseball the Diesel

Greaseball is a character in the rock opera "Starlight Express". He is the alpha male of the train yard. He's self confident, suave and a heartbreaker. All the ladies loves him but Dinah is his main squeeze. He and his gang put Rusty down, breaking his spirits. He trips Rusty during one of the races and Dinah complains. He leaves her for Pearl. In the end, he ends up crashing with Electra and CB. Humbly, he returns to Dinah, telling her that he is "S.O.R.R.R.Y", asking for her to take him back again.

Greaseball's first entrance is dramatic, interrupting the overture with crashing electric guitar riffs. He rises out of the smoke, surrounded by his anonymous, helmeted Gang. He poses for a while before singing Rolling Stock, a hymn to his own glory and the might of the Diesel engine. Later he sings Pumping Iron, originally just to show off, but in later productions as a direct challenge to newcomer Electra.

In the Mexican production "Expreso Astral", Greaseball was re-named Turbo.

Character

Greaseball's character is deceiving to the audience. He appears very cool and tough, but at the end we see how thick he is when he spells "Sorry" with three "R"'s! He leads a gang of anonymous and mostly faceless diesel thugs, who wear large helmets for their opening number Pumping Iron and double up as the race marshalls before, during and after the races. Together they menace and intimidate Rusty and the Freight.He is Control's favourite engine, with rule-breaking and foul play blithely ignored.Originally Greaseball was a far darker character than he is often portrayed today, a champion who cheats, bullies and maims his way to the finish line, beats up his girlfriend Dinah, ditches her when she complains about his behavior, and humiliates her by saying over her head to Caboose that she is no longer his carriage. Understandably, now that Starlight Express is largely considered to be a family show, much of this is toned down.

Inspiration

Greaseball was based on Elvis. He is also, along with Electra the Ugly Stepsister stereotype.

Musical numbers

* Rolling Stock
* Pumping Iron
* One Rock and Roll too many

He also has solo lines in

* Taunting Rusty
* Coda of Freight
* Post-Race 1 - intro to "There's Me"
* Laughing Stock
* The Rap (all three versions)
* Pearl Twirl
* Pre-Race 4
* U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D reprise(known to fans as 'Dinah Splat', after the staging),
* Wide Smile
* Light at the End of the Tunnel

Costume

Greaseball's costume was heavily influcenced by both Elvis and motorcycle leathers. He is based on a Union Pacific diesel engine. The colours are mainly black and yellow with accents in red and orange. His jacket is made to show his muscle frame and in the some of the productions, he is given a racing pack and ankle rockets to increase his bulk during the races. Broadway was the first time he had the words 'Union Pacific' on his costume, and he has had them since. In London he had an embroidered eagle across his back, this detail seems to be absent elsewhere. In 2006, The German production introduced Pyrotechnics into the show, Greaseball having rockets literally shooting sparks from his skates as he enters for "Pumping Iron".

Greaseball's outfit made a huge change for the 6 month long 1997 tour Starlight on Ice. He wore a latex Elvis wig along with facial hair. He had a jacket that covers his outfit. Under the jacket was a dark blue jumpsuit with a star in the middle. The color scheme changed as well. Instead of yellow and black (colours given to Electra) it became blue, red, and silver.

Actors

Several actors(particularly Nigel Casey and Drue Williams) have returned to this role multiple times in one production, resulting in the list appearing to be short.

London

* Jeff Shankley
* Drue Williams
* Nigel Casey
* John Francis Davies
* Mark Walker
* Maynard Williams
* Tony Rouse *
* Simon Marlow
* Lez Dwight
* Dustin Dubreuil

Broadway

* Robert Torti
* John Schiappa

Japan/Australia

* Troy A Burgess

Bochum

* Paul Kribbe
* Nigel Casey
* Danny Metcalfe
* Drue Williams
* Kent Sheridan
* Ernest Marchain
* Lez Dwight (injured on his first performance)
* Chris Barron

First US Tour

* Ron DeVito

Japan Tour

* Danny Metcalfe

Las Vegas

* Rod Weber

On Ice

* Fabrice Garattoni

Mexico

* Carlos Gastelum

Second US Tour

* Drue Williams

UK Tour

* Tom Kanavan
* Jamie Capewell

*Tony Rouse was married to Claudia Bradley who was Pearl at the time.

References

* [http://www.bellesdomain.co.uk/ Belle's Domain]
* [http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/starlight/ The Offical Starlight Express page]