A stomping good time

MANILA, Philippines - The fusion of percussion, movement and visual comedy cast a stomping spell, but the show’s message resounded just as strong as the action happening on stage: That is, making something out of nothing.

Stomp had a rousing debut at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo last Tuesday. As its members vowed in an interview ahead of its opening night, the show made music not just out of unconventional sources — think junk, household items and industrial objects — but made Stompers, as members are called, out of the audience.

This the first time that Stomp, which has already been brought to a total of 48 countries across five continents, has reached the country. Stomp originated in Brighton, United Kingdom as created by the ingenious duo of Steve McNicholas, an actor, musician and writer, and Luke Cresswell, a self-taught percussionist and rhythm programmer. The show is now 11 years old and still stomping.

It has been staged on West End and Broadway, and has been tagged as the “rebel of theater” because it doesn’t fall under a specific genre and doesn’t assume a clear-cut definition, except that it truly is a rhythmical journey that makes the audience a willing participant.

At Tuesday’s show, no verbal cajoling was even needed as the eight-member (six males, two females) touring group’s inspired routine after routine proved more than enough to draw out the audience’s natural rhythm. Throughout the show, the audience gleefully joined in the clapping and thumping, and fittingly so, embraced the ending (and encore) with standing ovations.

The show makes music out of unconventional sources — think junk, household items and industrial objects

Of course, aside from the novelty of having noise turned into music, the Stompers are the real stars of the show. It’s now hard for me to imagine how they were able to sustain their level of energy in a program that lasted for one hour and a half without breaks.

There are currently four Stomp companies performing worldwide. The members of the group that’s here are from different parts of the globe — from the United States, Australia, United Kingdom to Austria. They said that to become a Stomper, one isn’t required to have a hardcore background in dancing or playing instruments. They say that anybody can be one, as long as he’s willing to unleash his inherent musical instincts.

Among the six that we got to interview a couple of days before the show — Michael Landis, Melanie Joseph, Nigel Clarke, Andrew Pang, Angus H Little and Johannes Buhon — only Nigel and Melanie studied dance. Andrew, being Hawaiian, credits the foundation of his rhythm to his hula background. Johannes and Michael were drummers, while Angus used to be a children’s clown and comedian. (In fact, Angus was a scene-stealer in the show with his comic turns.) But they all come together in one cohesive production.

“Everyone brings their own kind of personal movement to the show,” Melanie told The STAR. “I studied African-Caribbean dance, jazz, tap and ballet, but they aren’t really essential.

Johannes added, “I am a drummer myself and I went to a conservatory in Austria, so we had an analytical and rigid approach to what’s music, and it actually doesn’t help you very much in Stomp, because it’s a very oral tradition and very abstract.”

“We are not straight music, dance or comedy. We incorporate lots of aspects. You can call it ‘rebel of theater.’ It really crosses all age barriers. We can go anywhere in the world, and everybody can relate to it,” Melanie said.

Indeed, the universal quality of Stomp was tangible. It also delivered variety: You have loud and pounding segments, thanks to the huge water drums and trash bins, as well as soothing and melodious parts courtesy of water pipes.

Other highlights included the “marching band” using kitchen sinks and the portion featuring newspapers, much to the amusement of the print media in the audience.

Lest we become such a spoiler, let’s just say that Nigel was right to explain that the part “is the only vocal part of the show, with sounds using the mouth. The craziness is expressed by oral sound. The mood is delirium.”

The dreadlocked Nigel himself had the most solo segments that maximized the beats that could possibly emanate from the body. “I find lots of different sounds from my body. It’s like a drum set that you carry all around,” he had said.

After the Philippine run, Stomp will be heading to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Interestingly, the Philippine tour carries a very special meaning to the Stompers. Apart from presently having four members, who have Filipino lineage, in the Stomp family, they fondly recall a former Filipino Stomper, whom they say had a massive influence on all of them and left somewhat of a void when he died in 2006. They dedicate their show here to him.

Melanie said, “I’m actually getting emotional just talking about him. He had a spirit that was very generous, and he was very talented. His name is Rory Flores, he passed away because of lung cancer.”

Johannes also said, “I’m actually wearing his boots, his legacy to me. Coming here, I was thinking about Rory, he was such a friendly, well-loved and open guy, and the reception we’re enjoying and the people we’ve met so far in the Philippines really reminded us of him and his vitality.”

Catch the remaining shows of Stomp, which runs until Oct. 23. Tickets are priced at P750, P1,000, P1,500, P2,000, P2,500, P3,000, P4,000, P4,500, P5,000 and P5,500. All tickets are available in TicketWorld outlets. For details, log on to www.lunchbox-productions.com.