By Steve McNicholas
Using any number of items as musical props — even newspapers — “Stomp” continues a 20-year successful run.
April 14-15 at 8 p.m. — RUTLAND — “Stomp,” the international percussion sensation, makes a stop at Rutland’s Paramount Theatre on April 14 and 15 at 8 p.m. each night. From its beginnings as a street performance in the U.K., “Stomp” has grown into an international sensation over the past 20 years, having performed in more than 50 countries and in front of more than 24 million people—and it’s coming back to Rutland!
Created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, “Stomp” continues its phenomenal run with four global productions: the ongoing sell-out production at New York’s Orpheum Theatre, a permanent London company, and North American and European tours. Throughout its life, the show has continued to change by creating new material, incorporating new pieces each year.
“Stomp,” an overwhelming success marked by rave reviews, numerous awards, and sell-out engagements, is the winner of an Olivier Award for Best Choreography (London’s Tony Award), a New York Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience, and a Special Citation from Best Plays; not to mention rave reviews musically, and Emmy Award-winning and t.v. appearances, among other accomplishments.
The performers “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound,” says co-founder/director Luke Cresswell. A unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, “Stomp” has created its own inimitable, contemporary form of rhythmic expression: both household and industrial objects find new life as musical instruments in the hands of an idiosyncratic band of body percussionists. It is a journey through sound, a celebration of the everyday and a comic interplay of characters wordlessly communicating through dance and drum.
Synchronized stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra, eight Zippo lighters flip open and closed to create a fiery fugue; wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion. “Stomp” uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – dustbins, tea chests, radiator hoses, boots, hub caps – to fill the stage with a compelling and unique act that is often imitated but never duplicated.
Tickets, $44.50 – $54.50, are available in advance at the box office located at 30 Center Street in downtown Rutland, by calling 802-775-0903, online at paramountvt.org or at the door on the day of the show if still available.
