Stomp: Rhythm in the routine, grooves in the grind and lots of percussion
Somewhere between tap dancing, sweeping a floor with a broom and a child simply clapping their hands, you will find Stomp.
Though typically associated with anger, the word "stomp," when given a capital “S,” takes on new meaning. Comedy comes from the discovery of percussion in everyday tasks. There is rhythm in the routine. There are grooves in the grind of everyday life.
Let’s forget for a moment about that person who may stomp across the floor in anger.
With Stomp, you have a live stage show with nine performers who dive deep into the world of percussion and push the boundaries of creative expression. Stomp does not use conventional percussion instruments, but does utilize trashcans, tea chests, plastic bags, plungers, boots, Zippo lighters, brooms, hubcaps, hands and feet.
The members of this cast bang and, yes, they stomp. They move in formation. They don’t just make noise, they generate sound. And their routines can evoke a Broadway musical, informal drum circle or someone simply tapping their fingers while they think.
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On Saturday, the sounds of Stomp will take over the Broadway Theater at Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston, which is owned by the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie.
“We’ve tried for years to get this show, but they always needed multiple nights, which we can’t really support,” said Chris Silva, executive director of the Bardavon. “Then suddenly, it falls in our lap; that’s show business.”
Stomp was launched in 1991 as a street performance in England and has now been staged in more than 350 cities in 36 countries. That includes a continuing off-Broadway run at the Orpheum Theater in New York City.
“There’s no show like this,” said Kris Lee, a 29-year-old Connecticut native and Stomp cast member since 2013. Lee will be among the performers at UPAC Saturday night.
She continued, “The way you feel on stage when you are doing this show... it’s incredible. It’s really magical what happens on stage. ... We do the same things each night... but stuff happens that might not happen again.”
Lee offers perspective on how a musician can end up in Stomp — and how this show builds on traditional percussion and drumming.
She started playing the drums at age 9, in school.
Speaking for herself back then and now, Lee said, drumming and percussion make “my heart happy and that’s why I’m doing it.”
Lee during middle school and high school was a member of the jazz band, symphony, pep band, marching band and drum line. She was also in garage bands and played an opening gig for the Misfits when she was 16.
She called drumming “primal” and “therapeutic.”
“It helps as a huge outlet,” she said. “I like to call it a reset, if you’re having an off-day, an off-week or something that’s making me upset or sad.”
Lee attended the Hartt School in Connecticut and studied music production and jazz performance. Percussion jobs — performing and teaching — along with engineering jobs followed.
In 2007, a singer-songwriter Lee knew and respected asked her if she had ever seen Stomp. She had attended performances at ages 10 and 17.
“He told me I should audition for it,” she recalled. “That never crossed my mind.”
Lee looked into Stomp auditions and waited for her next opportunity to try out for the show — in 2011.
“I’ve been to auditions my whole life,” she said. “This was just different and extremely intimidating.”
Lee advanced to the final round of auditions, but was eventually cut.
A year later, she and others who had been cut were invited back to audition again. Lee was ultimately hired for the gig in 2013.
On Saturday, she and her fellow performers will be in Kingston for physically-demanding roles in a show that Lee said is roughly 80 percent choreographed and 20 percent improvised.
“There is a journey you go on with the characters and the music and the props,” she said. “It’s not 110 percent all the time. It has a nice flow to it.”
She added, “It’s amazing. I love my job.”
John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo
If You Go
Stomp
When: 8 p.m. April 16
Where: Broadway Theater at Ulster Performing Arts Center, 601 Broadway, Kingston
Admission: $33 - $53
Information: Tickets can be purchased in person at the Bardavon box office, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie, which can be reached at 845-473-2072; in person at the UPAC box office, 601 Broadway Kingston, which can be reached at 845-339-6088; and through Ticketmaster, which can be reached at 1-800-745-3000 and www.ticketmaster.com.
Visit www.bardavon.org for information.