"Stomp" Returns To Boston
With A Few Surprises
October 1 - 18 At The Cutler Majestic Theatre

The percussive hit, "Stomp," is making a return to Boston in a 3-week engagement at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. This time around, the international sensation promises some surprises and new elements, with some sections of the show updated and restructured, as well as the addition of two new full-scale routines. Playing October 1 - 18. "Stomp" is directed and created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas.

An overwhelming success marked by rave reviews, numerous awards and sellout engagements, "Stomp" is the winner of an Olivier Award for Best Choreography (London's equivalent of the Tony Award), as well as a New York Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience, and a Special Citation from Best Plays.

The young performers “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound,” says co-creator / director Luke Cresswell. Stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra; Zippo lighters flip open and closed to create a fiery fugue; wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion. From trash cans to tea chests, plastic bags, plungers, boots, and hubcaps, "Stomp" uses everything but conventional percussion instruments to fill the stage with compelling and infectious rhythms.

Co-creator Steve McNicholas commented, “After creating new routines for 'Stomp Out Loud' in Vegas, Luke Cresswell and I decided it was time to rework elements of our main production. 'Stomp' has evolved a great deal ever since its first incarnation at the Edinburgh Festival. Every reworking has involved losing some pieces and gaining new ones, but has always stayed true to the original premise of the show: to create rhythmic music with instantly recognizable objects, and do it with an eccentric sense of character and humor.”

The changes that can now be seen in the tour of "Stomp" are the biggest since the late 1990’s. The new piece, “Paint Cans,” evolved out of the “Boxes” routine in the Las Vegas show while “Donuts” is a piece that implements huge tractor tire inner tubes, worn around the waist on a bungee cord. For many years, the creators had looked for a "Stomp" equivalent of the Latin percussion instrument the guiro, a gourd-shaped open-ended instrument with ridges along the side that are rubbed by a wooden stick to create its sound. The climactic trash can sequence, “Bins,” has been restructured to include a guiro-like new found instrument: strip-lighting recycling containers.

From its beginnings fourteen years ago as a street performance in the U.K., "Stomp" has performed in more than 350 cities in 36 countries worldwide. The show continues its phenomenal sellout Off-Broadway run at New York's Orpheum Theatre, a North American tour, and two productions overseas - a London company and a European tour.

For information and tickets, stop by the Cutler Majestic Theatre Box Office located at 219 Tremont Street, call 800-233-3123 or visit www.maj.org

-- Photo: courtesy STOMP

-- OnStage Boston