Writer reflects on music

Almost all New York shows contain classical music and timeless characters that speak for themselves in the greatest plays of all time. But one, in particular, does not speak at all, but rather throws away tradition in their joyful take on street music.

Stomp is a clever wordless show with an eight-member cast. The characters use random objects from the streets, such as garbage cans and push brooms, to make beautiful music and mischievous humor.

The unique combination of percussion, movement, and visual comedy was created in the UK in 1991, the result of a ten-year collaboration between Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas.

The show premiered at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, where it became the Guardian’s “Critic’s” Choice” and won the “Best of the Fringe” award from the Daily Express.

Since then, the show has debuted all over the world and received many other awards, including a street named after the performance.

Before the show started, I was told Stomp wasn’t a Broadway show. Nonetheless, I still believed the performance would display large amounts of quality entertainment.

As the group entered the theater, I suddenly noticed the stage was the size of a normal high school drama stage, maybe smaller. Barrels rested on the floor, and pots and pans hung from a balcony above the theater.

Everyone took their seats in tight quarters, and the lights dimmed out, letting the excited crowd know to quiet down.

The show started out with dirty, scruffy-looking adults scrubbing the floor with push brooms. Eventually, one after another danced onto the stage until eight cast members, including Alan Asuncion and Carlos Thomas, were banging their sweepers on the ground, making a beat and song out of ordinary objects.

I was impressed with their skills in both dancing and ability to make music out of many things. Some of the objects they used were shopping carts, plastic bags, inner tubes, and pipes.

Throughout the play, the characters create a dialogue through the music they made, not with words. They used different objects around the area and creative body movements to make the show more understandable, and that was a unique take on a play.

One thing that was evident throughout the play was that the type of music created repeated itself three or four times. The noise sounded the same during the first few scenes, and I was disappointed that the music didn’t appeal in the beginning.

Although the music, in the beginning, felt discouraging, the props got much better, providing different ways to create music out of almost anything. At one point, the whole room went dark, and the cast made music by flicking lighters off and on, creating an illuminating effect that wowed the crowd.

As sophomore Sam Cross watched the wordless play, he agreed that the show was a great production and unique in its engagement with the audience.

“I loved the way the members interacted with the people by having them clap their hands and stomp their feet,” Cross said. “The harmonized banging kept many of the tired journalists awake while providing a very fun and memorable night. I like the cast members’ unique personality and how it blended well with their fellow actors on stage.”

Overall, the performance received positive feedback from the crowd, and expressed a hidden message, telling people even the most simple of things can be made in something amazing.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @schultz_kamryn and via email: Kamryn Schultz.

For more articles read, Feather takes NYC: Day 5.