Neil White clearly remembers his first-ever job in theatre.

"I was assistant stage manager on the Alhambra panto, it was Aladdin starring Su Pollard," he says.

Twenty years later Bradford-born Neil is returning to the Alhambra, bringing the fastest show on earth' to town.

Neil is company manager with Starlight Express which, since it opened in London in 1984, has become the second longest-running musical in West End theatre history. In 1993 it was revised and three years ago a new production was created which rolls into the Alhambra for a month this summer.

The futuristic tale of the triumph of love and hope in the face of adversity is a turbo-charged race featuring the entire 30-strong cast on roller skates.

"It's essentially the Cinderella story," says Neil. "The whole show is set in a child's dream. Just before he goes to sleep he's been playing with his toy train and in his dream the engines come alive."

The story centres on Rusty, a shy steam engine who's in love with Pearl, an indecisive observation car.

The ugly sister' characters are Greaseball - an Elvis look-alike American diesel engine who's the hot, flashy power of the Union Pacific and an all-round cad - and Electra, a state-of-the-art electric engine who looks like an androgynous rock star and has a wild entourage.

Poppa, a sturdy old retired steam engine, is Rusty's father. When his son loses his love, and his heart, Poppa comes out of retirement to prove to Rusty that power comes from within the soul. He helps him find his way to the Starlight Express, the fairy godmother' of the show.

Neil, who's in charge of the tour, says it's a challenging production to take on the road. "We have a 55-strong touring cast and crew, which is a big company to tour," he says. "In the West End the big engine race went on a track around the auditorium, but there was no way we could do that in regional theatres as we only have three days to put it up. The race appears in 3D on a video screen, the audience get their Starlight Express safety goggles when they go in and there are some amazing 3D effects.

"Everything in Starlight is played and performed live. It's such a fast show, it never stops moving, and it's totally visual. We have pyrotechnics, people flying, and of course the entire cast is on skates, performing acrobatics, jumps, spins, lifts and big dance routines."

The cast attends an intensive skate school. "Being on skates alters the way they sing, breathe and dance," says Neil. "A team of physiotherapists comes on tour, there are occasional injuries as you'd expect from a fast-paced skating show. Most injuries tend to be with ankles or hips and someone once gave himself a black eye."

The skating area always stays the same so the cast don't have to adapt to different sizes in each of the theatres.

"The floor must be kept immaculately clean," says Neil. "The trickiest area is backstage; the show features trains' of up to 30ft long so there has to be room for the engines' to queue up offstage, ready to steam on. It's vital that the area is left clear for them. Once on stage they go at speeds of up to 40mph, it's not called the fastest show on earth for nothing.

"All the performers are four inches taller than normal, and much wider, because they're wearing these huge costumes with padding everywhere. I'm 6ft 2in and I feel small backstage next to them! Greaseball's costume weighs two-and-a-half stones. It's a huge suit of armour made of strengthened plastic."

Whereas most wardrobe departments have staff on hand in the wings with a needle and thread, the Starlight Express crew are more likely to be clutching spanners and hammers to mend plastic armour, knee pads and racing helmets.

Neil says the show's appeal is that it's something the whole family can watch. "There's nothing offensive in it; it's essentially a love story, it's got the action of a race, fabulous costumes and special effects. People come to see the show again and again, they see something different each time. There's a massive Starlight community, people dress as characters and everyone leaves the theatre on a high."

Neil grew up in Cullingworth and his parents were in the village amateur society. "I used to help my dad backstage with the lighting and building scenery," he recalls.

He joined Bingley Amateurs then, at 16, joined the National Youth Theatre. He went on to work as a designer and stage manager. "The Alhambra is one of the most immaculately kept theatres I've worked in," he says. "I worked on several shows there, including My Fair Lady, Me and My Girl, The Rocky Horror Show, The Play What I Wrote and Rebecca last year, starring Nigel Havers.

"I'm excited about bringing Starlight Express. It's such an unusual show; as well as the roller-skating there's an incredible light show and so many different musical styles, from rap to rock'n' roll."

  • Starlight Express runs at the Alhambra from August 14 to September 8. For tickets ring (01274) 432000.