Stomp Moves and Grooves
Orange construction barrels become drums. Strong dancers spin across the stage as others walk out thumping sinks chained around their necks. It's performance art taken to another level.
Watching Stomp is a bit like seeing the secret life of ordinary things: Here's what your broom can do when it isn't sweeping, here's the sound a rubber hose can make when it's tapped against something. It blends percussive rhythms and movement to create a high-energy, colorful and creative show.
The current tour of Stomp, which began more than 11 years ago on a stage in the U.K., features an eclectic set, with bright lights bouncing off an artful conglomeration of bits and pieces that look as if they came from a junkyard. It is a true ensemble show with excellent performances from a cast of consummate showfolk that produce huge sounds while maintaining subtle movements and expressions. Watching the combined work of all of the performers is exhausting but infectious.
The opening sequence is particularly engaging. Here, one performer begins casually sweeping the floor. Gradually, he begins tapping the side of the large broom on the floor. One by one, his fellow performers join in and before you know it, there are 12 performers on stage, moving and banging the brooms to the beat.
Perhaps part of the beauty of Stomp is how performers take ordinary things and bring them together to create the extraordinary; who knew that such awesome beats could be associated with plungers and brooms?
Stompis at the Warner Theatre until January 14. Tickets are available online. The cast will also appear at the Hard Rock Cafe on Jan. 5 after 10 a.m. for a post-show party.