Stomp is an energetic outing that
brings down the Sacramento CCT house
Reviewed by Joe Blenkle/Sacramento Stage & Theatre
Stomp crashes the Sacramento Community Center state Dec. 29, 1998 - Jan. 3, 1999 as part of SLOA's 1998-99 Broadway Series. Photo by: Junichi Takahashi.

PERFORMERS:
  Ivan Delaforce
  Andres Fernandez
  Coralissa Gines
  Mignon A. Mason
  Cameron Newlin
  Ana Sofia Pomales
  Danielle Reddick
  Matt Scanlon
  Henry W. Shead, Jr.
  Carlos "Peaches" Thomas
  Dan Weiner
STOMP STUFF
STOMP uses the following every week:
  • 20 brooms
  • 40 gallons of water
  • 2 gallons of floor paint
  • 6 wooden poles
  • 5 Sunday New York Times
  • 30 pounds of sand
  • 7 mop heads
  • 1 fire bucket
  • 10 garbage can lids
  • 2 hatchet handles
  • 4 wheel rims
  • 8 fist-sized chunks of chalk
  • 4 rolls of gaffer tape
  • 6 ace bandages
  • 6 disposable ice packs
  • 6 ball-peen hammer handles
    		•
        The Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas created STOMP came to Sacramento this week (Dec. 29, 1998 - Jan. 3, 1999) as part of Sacramento Light Opera Association's Broadway Series.
        STOMP is a unique percussion sensation that features eight performers using everything from brooms, plastic pipes, garbage cans, plastic drums, and yes, even the kitchen sink, to create a fabulous rhythmic sound that mesmerizes the audience from start to finish.
        "It's a piece of theatre that's been created by musicians," says co-creator Steve McNicholas. "It doesn't have a narrative and it doesn't have dialogue and it doesn't have melody particularly, but it is totally rhythmically based. Everything that happens in the show has totally to do with rhythm. The prime directive for all the performances is: rhythm comes first. Movement comes second and we try to make that mixture more interesting and more palatable by adding levels of comedy to it."
        Most of the comedy comes from sight gags - especially a series that runs through the entire show. The rest of the cast seems determined to pick on the diminutive Danielle Reddick - her peaceful time alone reading the paper is interrupted by the rest of the cast rattling and eventually destroying theirs; she is chased by several cast members striding across the stage on oil drums; and she can't quite keep up with her box jumping buddies as they go across the stage to the rhythm of giant plastic barrel drums.
        The performers in this show are quite accomplished at what they do and the sound they get out of a variety of objects is incredible.
        The show ends with a somewhat destructive finale, as the cast goes all out to destroy various sizes of garbage cans and garbage can lids.
        Thankfully, the noise level never quite gets up to what you'd expect considering all the banging on objects that is done. Only one "number" near the end gets pretty noisy and it is probably the most interesting of the show.
        Four performers are seen hanging off the towering set that looks like it escaped from a goodwill store - with every variety of pots and pans and everything else you can imagine. Swinging back and forth between various "instruments," it makes for quite a spectacle and is a real crowd pleaser.
        STOMP is a show you must see to believe. It's better than you can ever imagine and it will have you looking at your household items with a new respect!
        STOMP plays at the Community Center Theater through January 3, 1999. For ticket information call (916) 557-1999, (916) 264-5181, or (916) 923-BASS.
        Next up for the Broadway Series is 1776, playing Feb. 2-7, 1999, at the Community Center Theater.
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