By Manning Harris
fmanningh@gmail.com
“Stomp” is a wordless, rhythmic theatrical phenomenon whose performers seem to reach out to you, grab you by the shoulders and say, “Play with us!” You’ll be much happier if you do.
So I’m happy to bang out this review (still reverberating from last night’s opening) and tell you that Theater of the Stars’ production will run only through Sunday, March 6, at The Fox Theatre. This show has a huge built-in fan base (as I discovered), and if you’re going, I’d get tickets fast.
“Stomp” is performance art—primal, percussive, sexy, urgent, tribal, and funny. It’s ultimately exhilarating and irresistible, and I don’t know why I waited all these years to experience it. It’s been playing at New York’s Orpheum Theatre since 1994 and has become the most financially successful Off Broadway show in history. It has played all over the world.
“Stomp” has been called an exploration of rhythm in everyday things: trash cans, brooms, buckets, Zippo lighters, sticks, rubber tubing, plastic bags, hubcaps, and much more. The show was created and directed by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in Brighton, U.K., in the summer of 1991. It’s constantly undergoing subtle changes; so if you’ve seen it before, you’ll find you actually haven’t!
Mr. McNicholas says: “ ‘Stomp’ has evolved a great deal since its first incarnation…Every reworking has involved losing some pieces and gaining new ones, but has always stayed true to the original premise of the show—to create rhythmic music with instantly recognizable objects, and do it with an eccentric sense of character and humor.”
And there is dance. The eight or nine young men and women, dressed down in shorts, torn jeans, boots, T-shirts and kerchiefs, all have an easy athleticism and a defiant, seductive, witty rapport with the audience that mesmerizes. There is an urgency about the show that is intensely theatrical, and above all there is that beat: inescapable, soft, sensuous, teasing, thundering.
The performers are John Angeles, Jaclynn Bridges, E. Donisha Brown, Andres Fernandez, Cammie Griffin, Michael R. Landis, Guy Mandozzi, John Sawicki, Mike Silvia, Elec Simon, and Carlos Thomas. There is a finely-honed connectedness among these performers that is infectious. By the way, Neil Tiplady’s lighting is subtle and very effective. And to me there’s a very downtown New York feel to the piece.
“Stomp” has a subliminal, subconscious power to it: It doesn’t use words, but it can take you out of this world. It’s difficult to describe because it’s such a visceral experience. You might hate it; however, if you’re at all intrigued, please don’t wait 15 years (as I did) to see it. Life is too short.
To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster.
