Eva May and I, along with Riley and her daughter, had a girls' night out Tuesday. We started with dinner and then went to see a travelling company of Stomp. Have you seen it? If not, you sure are missing something truly fun.
The show was almost two full hours of non-stop energy. Eight performers who created incredible rhythms out of average items you'd literally find on the street, from push brooms, to paper and plastic bags, to rubber hoses, inner tubes, trash cans, paint cans, road signs, plastic water bottles, wooden sticks, newspapers, their own bodies, even the kitchen sink, they used everything.
And don't think they just stood there and beat on these things. No, they were in continual motion the entire show. You really should see how these people can stomp their feet, tap dance, snap their fingers, clap their hands, twirl around in mid-air, click their six-foot long sticks together, smash trash can lids against the person next to them, toss paint cans and plastic jugs in the air all while continuing to drum, not missing a beat or dropping anything or hitting anyone or themselves. Seriously, go see it. If I didn't have edits to do tonight, I'd go back again. It was that good.
If that doesn't have you convinced, it's also funny. There's absolutely no talking but the facial expressions are a riot. There is one character who is the scapegoat for all the skits though I'm not sure that's the appropriate word. He's the one who cleans up when the sinks splash water and catches the paint cans at the end of that segment after not being permitted to join in and has the small, wimpy section of rubber hose as opposed to the big, manly hose. Yes, they do hold them up and compare. There's lots of little things like that throughout the whole show.
On top of that, it's interactive. We, the audience had our assigned clapping to do too at various times throughout. At the end they attempted to teach us some more involved rhythms. Eva May was much better at it than I was because she's more coordinated but we had fun laughing at me. I didn't feel bad. Lots of other people there couldn't do it either.
The show was almost two full hours of non-stop energy. Eight performers who created incredible rhythms out of average items you'd literally find on the street, from push brooms, to paper and plastic bags, to rubber hoses, inner tubes, trash cans, paint cans, road signs, plastic water bottles, wooden sticks, newspapers, their own bodies, even the kitchen sink, they used everything.
And don't think they just stood there and beat on these things. No, they were in continual motion the entire show. You really should see how these people can stomp their feet, tap dance, snap their fingers, clap their hands, twirl around in mid-air, click their six-foot long sticks together, smash trash can lids against the person next to them, toss paint cans and plastic jugs in the air all while continuing to drum, not missing a beat or dropping anything or hitting anyone or themselves. Seriously, go see it. If I didn't have edits to do tonight, I'd go back again. It was that good.
If that doesn't have you convinced, it's also funny. There's absolutely no talking but the facial expressions are a riot. There is one character who is the scapegoat for all the skits though I'm not sure that's the appropriate word. He's the one who cleans up when the sinks splash water and catches the paint cans at the end of that segment after not being permitted to join in and has the small, wimpy section of rubber hose as opposed to the big, manly hose. Yes, they do hold them up and compare. There's lots of little things like that throughout the whole show.
On top of that, it's interactive. We, the audience had our assigned clapping to do too at various times throughout. At the end they attempted to teach us some more involved rhythms. Eva May was much better at it than I was because she's more coordinated but we had fun laughing at me. I didn't feel bad. Lots of other people there couldn't do it either.
3 comments:
I had an opportunity to see Stomp a couple of years ago, but had to pass because of breast-feeding issues! I would love to see it:)
I remember when this first came out and I thought it all looked so damn cool. I'd love to see it. Out here in the middle of nowhere, we don't get a lot of this neat stuff but we have traveling shows about four times a year. Saw Chicago in April but if we're lucky enough to get STOMP, I'll go for sure.
Saw a brief segment on an old awards show. It was wonderful...
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