A Stompin’ Good Time

I’d already reached the tail-end of my two-week vacation in the US. Three-day sorties in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles had not yielded any theatrical production I felt I just had to see. But as I cruised along the freeway from San Jose to San Francisco, I was jolted into attention by a flyer announcing the last few days of Stomp at the Marines Memorial Theatre along Sutter and Mason. I resolved to save up my last remaining greenbacks and splurge on a ticket. I had this weird habit of catching British productions in America, and Disney shows on the West End.

Dragging along former Ballet Philippines stalwart Dwight Rodrigazo, I queued for rush-hour tickets and barely managed two orchestra seats on the third row for $20 each. Not bad! Dwight had spent the last few days scrounging around for 99-cent bargains, so it was time he earned a treat.

For the next two hours, we were mesmerized by a striking spectacle which showed the kind of electricity that performance is all about.

Simply put, Stomp features a brilliantly talented gang which produces rhythmical noise–not with musical instruments, but with junk and everyday utensils. A unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, Stomp highlights clap-along culture and a recycling society in what can be described as "high-voltage, virtuosic conversations of sound." A piece of theater that was created by two young British musicians in Brighton, UK over a decade ago, it doesn’t have a narrative, it doesn’t have dialogue and it doesn’t really have melody, but it is totally based on rhythms.

Using manual props that lend themselves to rhythm and drumming, Stomp takes ideas from everywhere. Brooms, dustbins and hammers are fairly obvious choices. Things become more surreal when the performers begin walking on oil drums and great platform shoes. Zippo lighters provide visuals in sound, together with buckets, barrels, sinks and other pieces of junk they lay their hands on. They make sound even with water, but basically with things that look interesting yet are instantly recognizable as being everyday objects.

Co-directors Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell were in a band called Pookiesnackenburger, playing festivals and city streets around Europe when they noted that the Edinburgh Festival was being dominated by stand-up comedy and one-person shows. They decided to experiment on an idiosyncratically British percussion program anchored on their experience in the streets. This was what busking was all about.

Steve played violin, mandolin and guitar, while Luke was percussionist extraordinaire. After seeing the Burundi drummers from Africa at the Covent Gardens piazza, Luke brought up the idea of a group percussion piece using dustbins (trashcans). It was a really popular piece which became something of a trademark and inspired them to come up with other bizarre rhythm routines. Soon they were appearing on television shows in the UK.

The name Stomp came about before Steve, Luke and their initial cast really had a show. They simply had the image of a large boot coming down on a dusty surface, making a big "thwack!" Two pieces that centered on footwork were the first things they did, enabling their performers to stand, create rhythm and move–not tapdance, not Wellington boot-dance nor clogdance. . .just "stomp". . .and make music.

Stomp officially premiered with an expanded cast of 30 members at the Brighton Festival in the summer of 1991. Since then, it has given birth to more compact ensembles that tour globally. They audition personalities with wildly varying approaches to character and drumming. Sense of humor is a must, as with plain old charisma. Neither dancers nor percussionists, necessarily, readily take to the show, which needs larger, exaggerated versions of the performers. They have to love showing off.

Stomp has played to capacity audiences throughout the world–from Hong Kong to Barcelona, from Dublin to Melbourne, from Tokyo to Brazil, and even the Acropolis in Athens. Its remarkable success is even more impressive than the phenomenal runs of fellow UK export Miss Saigon. Stomp’s performance at the Royal Festival Hall broke RFH box office records established by Frank Sinatra in 1972. A sell-out season at London’s Sadler’s Wells led to an Olivier nomination for Best Entertainment, and an award for Best Choreography for a West End show. Its run at the Orpheum Theatre in New York led to Obie and Drama Desk Awards for Most Unique Theater Experience, and the formation of four touring productions in North America alone.

Stomp made a special appearance at the Academy Awards in 1996, with an acclaimed original piece involving live synchronization of classic film clips and onstage action from the combined UK and US casts. The HBO Special "Stomp Out Loud" received four Emmy nominations, winning one. They have likewise been featured in a number of commercials, including Coca-Cola’s Ice Pick, and in the Mr. Frear series for Nickelodeon. Brooms, a 12-minute Oscar-nominated short, was also selected for screening at Robert Redford’s Sundance Festival and for competition in Cannes. Stomp was also featured with Elmo, Telly and other Sesame Street characters in a Sony Home Music Video release entitled Let’s Make Music. Their current project is an imax film celebrating global rhythms including Kodo drummers from Japan and Timbalada from Brazil.

Yet, believing that anyone can do Stomp, they sometimes take up to 20 extras in shows abroad–people coming from all walks of life, not as auditions, but simply as people who can make rhythm out of their hands and feet. It could be jangling keys in one’s pocket, drumming fingers on table tops, tapping their heels out of boredom or simply walking down the street. After all, theater and rhythm are common to all cultures. But since Stomp uses neither words nor melodies, they have avoided elements which divide people.

It takes two full days to prepare a theater for the production. Trusses, corrugated metal sheets and assorted pieces of scrap metal and plastic make up the large set. Special flooring may be needed for certain venues. Although it uses relatively few strategically-placed microphones to preserve the natural acoustic feel of the show, the UK company carries its own lighting and sound rigs. So when Stomp comes to town, it arrives with two 40-foot containers, 12 performers and five crew members. The show is so physically demanding that the routines allow for eight performers onstage and four resting at any given time. The result is pure stage magic–wild, but immensely original.

Being a hybrid theatrical form anchored on a community throbbing with the spheres, Stomp is not set in race or gender. The San Francisco show featured Filipino-Hawaiians Harold Kekoa Bayang and Andres Fernandez together with Brazilian folkloric dancer Paolo Dos Santos, World Tap Dance gold medallist David Cox from Ontario, Muslim martial arts expert Khalid Freeman, Frisco hip-hopper Nick Pack, Puerto Rican Walter Rosa, multi-talented New Yorker Carlos Thomas, midwest babe Tonya Kay and Japanese taiko drummer and Shaolin black-belter Yako Miyamoto.

The usually witty and hyperactive Dwight was dumbfounded by Stomp’s kinetic energy. I chose to relax and enjoy myself with their unforgettable program, through an indescribable primal journey. Since we could not take video footage nor could we afford to buy any souvenir merchandise, we ambushed the cast after the show, and in the best Filipino tradition. . . "kodak-an!"