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| Show | Did He Like It?* |
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Garbage can lids and brooms and sticks make up just a few of the "instruments" used for this percussive symphony. Stomp has been packing in audiences at the Orpheum Theatre since 1994, and is still running strong. Click here to buy tickets. |
The Percussive, Still Attracting Crowds
*By: JASON ZINOMAN
Published: July 29, 2005
Three years after "Blue Man Group: Tubes" opened, another Off Broadway sensation came on the scene with no talking, even more drumming and a familiar joke in common. (Hint: don't come late to either unless you want to be singled out for ridicule.) "Stomp" even nods to "Tubes" in its design, which includes a roll of toilet paper hanging from a wall littered with as much detritus as a Richard Foreman set.
If "Tubes" has been updated over the years, "Stomp" has stayed pretty much the same. The invigorating low concept follows what might be called the Urban Outfitters formula: take something that looks as if it were found on the street - whether it be used clothes or the art form of drumming with prosaic objects like brooms, plungers and tape measures - dress it up with slick production values and sell it as something raw and authentic.
It worked so well that "Stomp" spawned imitators (see the headache-inducing "Drumstruck," currently running at Dodgers Stages) and satires, including a hilarious "Saturday Night Live" commercial for a fake show called "Clappin.' " If "Stomp" remains slim on content, it has energy to burn. The directors and co-creators, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, have staged the scenes with a meticulous rhythm - quick, consistent and with just enough variety to keep your concentration from wandering to the after-show dinner. Few moments feel improvised, but the show never sacrifices the appearance of spontaneity. The drummers work within the framework of rudimentary narratives (example: one guy wants to read the paper, but the others keep interrupting him) and superficially distinct characters portrayed by a splendidly athletic ensemble.
There's the ferocious pink-haired punk (Yako Miyamoto) and the tall, dreadlocked comic with the intensity of Busta Rhymes (Keith Middleton). Raymond Poitier, a muscle-bound leading man with a soul patch, keeps the most direct contact with the audience while maintaining an occasionally dismissive attitude toward the others. The cast members interact with one another like longtime friends, communicating with stares or slight nods.
While the kitchen sink and garbage cans make the most racket, the quieter instruments are more impressive, as when the performers make music by tapping a matchbox or twisting a creaking folding chair. At its best, "Stomp" convinces its audience that the background music of our everyday lives is worth listening to.
"Stomp" is at the Orpheum Theater, Second Avenue at Eighth Street, East Village, (212) 477-2477.
Click here to buy tickets.
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