Dinah is the sweet, Southern and lovable dining car from Starlight Express

Starlight Express

Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

. She is hopelessly in love with Greaseball and her best friend is Pearl the observation car. She races with Greaseball

Greaseball the Diesel

Greaseball is a character in the rock musical 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...

 during the 1st Heat but when she complains about his cheating afterwards, he uncouples her and races with Pearl

Pearl the Observation Car

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"...

 which leaves Dinah to be consoled by Caboose. After being rejected, Electra

Electra the Electric Train

Electra the Electric Engine is a fictional character from the rock musical Starlight Express.Electra is the newest train to enter the yard and, therefore, Control's newest toy. He comes with his own line of components that are loyal to him. He's rich, self-centered and sexy. His eyes are set on...

 chooses her as his new race partner. After the Uphill Final is stopped halfway due to foul play, Dinah gets annoyed with his underhand tactics and leaves before the re-run. After Greaseball crashes, he goes back to Dinah, telling her that he is S.O.R.R...R...Y.
In the 1997 Mexican production Expreso Astral the character was called Vianda, and her songs were translated into Spanish.

Inspiration

Dinah is an overall composite of Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...

 (Hence her child-like innocence) and Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...

 (her Southern American accent and country style)).

Musical numbers

Original London

• A Lotta Locomotion - Quartet with Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.
  U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.
  "U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D." is a popular song from the musical Starlight Express, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It is performed by Dinah the Dining Car, after being dumped by her macho boyfriend, Greaseball. It is a parody of the Tammy Wynette song,...
  
   - Solo
• Girls Rolling Stock - Quartet with Buffy, Ashley and Belle
• Dinah's Disco - Duet with Electra

Revised London

• A Lotta Locomotion - Quartet with Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• Crazy - Quintet with Rusty, Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D - Solo
• Girls Rolling Stock - with Buffy and Ashley backup
• Dinah's Disco - Duet with Electra

Bochum

• Liebesexpress - ('love train' English equivalent 'Engine of love') Quintet with Rusty, Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• Ne Lok mit Locomotion - ('A locomotive with locomotion' English equivalent 'A lotta locomotion')Quartet with Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• Crazy - (since 2002) Quintet with Rusty, Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• Dein Freund - ('Your friend' English equivalent 'There's me') Duet with Caboose
• G.E.K.U.P.P.E.L.T - ('U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D') Solo
• Girls Rolling Stock - Trio with Buffy and Ashley
• Dinah's Trennung - ('Dinah's Disco') Duet with Electra

UK/US Tours

• A Whole Lotta Locomotion - Quartet with Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• Crazy - Quintet with Rusty, Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D - Solo
• Dinah's Disco - Duet with Electra

Australia/Japan

• Engine of Love - Quintet with Rusty, Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• A Lotta Locomotion - Quartet with Buffy, Ashley and Pearl
• There's Me - Duet with Caboose
• U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D - Solo
• Girls Rolling Stock - Trio with Buffy and Ashley
• Dinah's Disco - Duet with Electra

Dinah's most prominent song is the Country and Western style U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D. Possibly based on Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette

Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....

's D.I.V.O.R.C.E, it is also one of the most popular songs in the show.

Costume

With the exception of Starlight On Ice, Dinah has always been costumed in pale blue. There are definite differences between the later London costumes and the Broadway design used in the Japan/Australia tour, Bochum, First US Tour and Japan productions, mainly in the cut of the skirt, design of the bodice and the pattern of the fabric. The London skirt was full circle, and from 1995 was open at the front, with a doily covering the front of her leotard.

The Broadway design is a six-paneled skirt that hangs more rigidly. The most commonly used 'tablecloth' material that the costume is made from is a simple large check, with edelweiß flowers on alternate dark and light squares. The London pattern was more complicated, a lot closer to a tartan with wide and narrow stripes crossing over.

The later Las Vegas design - which toured the US in 2003 and now tours the UK - has no coloured leggings but flesh coloured tights, an eye-wateringly high leg line and large buttons(to represent plates) on the skirt.

Bochum
Dinah's costume is the Broadway design, with very subtle alterations to make her look more quintessentially German. Her headband was changed over the years to a waitress' tiara.

Starlight On Ice
In the obscure but interesting "On Ice" production, all the costumed were redesigned, by Frank Krenz. Dinah's outfit was red and frilly with skates styled like cowgirl boots. Her hair was in a big country style similar to Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...

's, with a big, red bow in the back. She also wore earrings and bright red lipstick. Her dress was made of genuine plasticised tablecloth!

Wigs

Dinah has been through more hair colours and styles in her time than any other character in Starlight Express

Starlight Express

Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

, but she is always soft, feminine and generally blonde. However she has rarely had hair longer than shoulder-length, to contrast with Pearl

Pearl the Observation Car

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"...

's long pink/blonde hair.

Originally she had a brown wig, with a large bun on top, a curled fringe and a big flick at the bottom. In later years this design lost the bun and went blonde.
Currently in Bochum her wig is very tightly styled and set, with no movement, looking reminiscent of Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...

 in a hairnet.

Actresses

London

• Frances Ruffelle
  Frances Ruffelle
  Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and recording artist. Her mother is Sylvia Young, the founder of the famous theatre school at which Frances trained, and her daughter is recording artist Eliza Doolittle. Her younger sister is actress Alison Ruffelle...
  
  
• Beverley Kay
• Debbie Wake
• Beverley Braybon
• Sally Taylor
• Caron Cardelle
• Deborah Spellman
• Anna-Jane Casey
  Anna-Jane Casey
  Anna-Jane Casey is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre.-Personal life:Casey was born in Salford, Lancashire, England...
  
  
• Natalie Powers
  Natalie Powers
  Natalie Powers is a British solo recording artist and lead vocalist of the pop group Scooch, which represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.-Early career:...
  
  
• Gail Easdale
• Irene Warren
• Leyla Pelligrini
• Helen Latham
  Helen Latham
  Helen Latham is a British actress. She is currently best known for playing Lucy Milligan in series 4 and 5 of the British TV Drama Footballers' Wives and in series 1 and 2 of its spin-off Footballers' Wives: Extra Time...
  
  

Broadway

• Jane Krakowski
  Jane Krakowski
  Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
  
  

Japan/Australia

• Debbie Wake

Bochum

• Natalie Howard
• Laurie Sheppard
• Darlene Casanova
• Tracey Heyworth
• Sarah Durkin
• Beverley Braybon
• Julie McKenna
• Nina Pressing
• Rachel Slater
• Clarissa Grace Quinlan
• Tia Marie Zorne
• Rachael Wooding
  Rachael Wooding
  Rachael Wooding is a Yorkshire born musical theatre performer, best known for her performances in We Will Rock You, playing Meat and understudying Jenna Lee-James as Scaramouche. She most recently played Amber in the original London cast of Hairspray the Musical. Wooding left Hairspray in October...
  
  
• Jodie Jackson
• Kelly O'Brien
• Suzy Bastone
• Amanda Coutts
• Katie Stewart
• Leanne Garretty
• Katy Hards
• Georgina Hagen
  Georgina Hagen
  Georgina "Georgie" Kimberley Hagen is an English actress and singer, most famous for her appearance as Lauren in ITV's Britannia High...
  
  
• Rachel Grundy

First US Tour

• Dawn Marie Church

Las Vegas

• Dawn Marie Church
• Jennifer Bizik
• Kelly Love

On Ice

• Julie Brault

Mexico

• Alejandra Murga

Second US Tour

• Katie O'Toole
• Beverley Braybon

UK Tour

• Tanya Robb
• Lucy Jane Adcock
• Ruthie Stephens

New Zealand Tour

• Torum Heng

Understudy to Pearl

In Bochum, Dinah is almost always the understudy of Pearl. 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
  Rachael Wooding
  Rachael Wooding is a Yorkshire born musical theatre performer, best known for her performances in We Will Rock You, playing Meat and understudying Jenna Lee-James as Scaramouche. She most recently played Amber in the original London cast of Hairspray the Musical. Wooding left Hairspray in October...
  
  
• Amanda Coutts
• Katie Stewart
• Beverley Braybon

Frank Krenz' 'On Ice' costume designs on flickr