STOMP.. the fantastic foot tapping 1 hr 45 mins of amazing music was an experience i shall remember for a long time.. yes, it was my 1st play, 1st musical, 1st experience of london theatre, time out with my bro and sis in law in london.. but there are more reasons for this play to be extra special.. :)
stomp the art form is an amazing exp and very atheletic and very energetic i believe.. the stamina u would need to do just 3 mins of that would be so much that it took my breath away when i saw it on the dance india dance show. on this stage, stomping was taken to another level.. they gave new meaning to kitchen items like brooms, sticks, vessels, pans, plastic cans, garbage cans, plastic bags, glasses, paper and whatever u can find around the kitchen..
for 1 hr 45 mins, 8 very talented men and women entertained us with innovative sounds turned into music with these various articles one after another, one act after another.. it was no less than awesome to hear foot tapping music from every instrument and sounds mixed by each of the 8 people.. they even managed to add humour to the whole show.. all this was done with non of then saying a word.. just the sound of the music and occasional greetings 'oye' from them.. it was amazing to see the kind of innovative percussion instruments and sounds that they made to fill the show duration with an unforgettable moments. an interesting audience participation bit made the show memorable for all of us there.. we were repeating clapping sequences that one main guy was telling us to do.. it was awesome, there were 2 such sections where the audience was involved, the 2nd one being slightly tougher than the 1st time to give us a taste of how awesome and easy it was to make music out of simple claps and the way u clap, full hands, cupped hands, fingers.. it also showed us how diff it is to control the claps to give u that right mix and right sequence of music.. very nice!! loved every moment of it..
my sis in law and i were constantly hit with resemblences of what they were doing to a lot of art forms and cultures from India. be it the navratri dandiya with sticks, to Kalarippayattu the ancient martial art of kerela.. seemed like a modern version of those dance forms..
all in all an experience that was both special and unique.. hats off to all those dancers to give us a high energy, high stamina, high entertainment, high musical show called Stomp for 1 hr 45 mins and not huff or puff post that.. they sure looked like they could go on for a while longer.. hope everyone gets a chance to experience this amazing play at the Ambassador..
i am glad my bro and sil took me to this one..
official review:
Formed by two percussion lovers, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, in 1991, 'Stomp' has been thrilling audiences in the West End and all over the world for over a decade. Initially performing in Brighton (England) and touring the United Kingdom, 'Stomp' was so popular with audiences that it opened in New York at the Orpheum Theatre in 1994, only three years after its conception. After almost ten years of rave reviews in the United States, the 'Stomp' team returned to London to open their West End show. In September of 2007 'Stomp' moved to it's present location, the Ambassadors Theatre, after its initial opening five years earlier at the Vaudeville Theatre. The production was so successful in it's British and American incarnations that the show has gone on to open in almost forty different countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and all over Europe. The London branch of the show, overseen by Yes/No Productions and Glynis Henderson Productions, has been awarded a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Choreography. The 'Stomp' team have also appeared on television ('Sesame Street'), in commercials (for Target and Coca-Cola), on a Quincy Jones album ('Q's Jook Joint'), and on movie soundtracks ('Tank Girl' and 'Riot').
Perhaps the main attraction audiences have to 'Stomp' is that the performance shows that anything is possible. Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, the creators, developed a 'musical' that relied solely on the power of percussion: drumming, tapping, clapping, hitting, stomping - just about every form of rhythm creation was incorporated. Though the musical has no steadfast storyline and there is no dialogue between the performers, 'Stomp' aims to show the unique personalities of each person on stage by emphasising the unique ways they create rhythm. Typically the show includes eight performers who use all sorts of props for the sole purpose of making noise. Matchboxes, garbage cans and lids, bottles, plungers, poles, wood planks, cigarette lighters, sinks, pens, sand, drumsticks, brooms, chalk and water are all props that have been used in shows, though just about anything can be thrown in on the whim of the dancers on stage. The performers use hand-claps and tap-dance moves to communicate 'conversations' to one another, while exaggerated facial and body expressions highlight the relationships amongst the group. 'Stomp' aims to be funny, entertaining, and above all irresistibly infectious, with the audience encouraged to make noise!
As 'Stomp' is open and touring in several different countries there tends to be a circulation of performers amongst the various shows. The original British cast (Luke Cresswell, Nick Dwyer, Sarah Eddy, Theseus Gerard, Fraser Morrison, David Olrod, Carl Smith and Fiona Wilkes) may make appearances on special occasions or in particular international shows, though the present London production has been refreshed to include a host of new talent. Currently 'Stomp' and the Ambassador Theatre are taking bookings up until early February of 2009, so there are still plenty of opportunities to see one of the most unique London musicals ever staged.
