Sometimes you don’t need words to communicate, you only need a broom, a shopping cart, suitcase or a kitchen sink.
“Stomp,” the show that makes music out of quotidian items, returns to Pikes Peak Center on Monday and Tuesday.
“It’s a really relatable show,” said longtime “Stomp” performer Andrew Patrick. “It’s an easy watch. People who maybe aren’t into theater or exposed to theater, it’s a good introduction. We’re able to travel the world with it — there’s no language barrier.”
The almost two-hour show only has the rough outline of a story. Set in a factory environment, each of the eight cast members catches rhythm fever from the other and picks up all manner of percussive instruments, such as matchboxes, wooden poles, garbage can lids and hubcaps, to do more than 20 routines. Performers take turns soloing and coming together to create a soundtrack that inspires foot tapping and head bobbing.
“It’s a parallel universe in how people live and communicate with rhythm,” Patrick said. “You can find rhythm out of things you might normally not think of. Everyone’s got character. One’s in charge, one’s more comic relief. Each puts their spin on it and that’s where improv and interpretation comes in.”
“Stomp,” a New York City staple, ran continuously at the Orpheum Theater in the East Village for almost three decades before closing in 2023. Founded by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, who first played together in a band, “Stomp” debuted in 1991 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Cresswell, the band’s percussionist, began improvising on the street, using found objects. The show toured internationally for three years before landing permanently in New York, and spawned several touring companies and an HBO special.
Patrick, who’s also a drummer, first saw “Stomp” when he was 16, during its heyday in the 1990s. It was love at first beat. He auditioned in 2002 when he was 21 and has been with the group ever since. In between tours and performances he fills in the gaps by playing drums for different artists and making his own music.
“My life changed,” he said. “It’s a show that as soon as I found out about it and saw it I was obsessed.”
The cast is composed of all types, some of whom have a background in music or acting and some who have zero performance experience.
“That’s the point of the show. Everyone has it (rhythm) in them, it’s just a case of harnessing it and exploring and teaching yourself to be more rhythmically inclined,” Patrick said. “We’ve got drummers, actors, a guy who worked behind the desk at a hospital. We’ve got a girl who was an English teacher. We see how they are with rhythm and picking things up and how they work with people.”
Is he sure everyone has rhythm?
“Oh yeah, it’s just a case of tapping into that and bringing that out. For sure,” he said.
“I’ve done workshops with people who seemed hopeless and by the end, they’re doing the basics, but they’re still doing it.”
Contact the writer: 636-0270
