Percussion show "STOMP" bangs into Bedell Performance Hall

The next time you find your toddler banging one thing against another, don't stop him. You may be rearing a future performer in long-running, unorthodox percussion show "Stomp."

The words "hypnotizing" and "intricate" have been used to describe this inventive percussion revue. It's almost easier to describe "Stomp" by what it isn't — a play or a musical. The performers make music using everyday things, sounds that most of us take for granted.

"Stomp" will be at the Bedell Performance Hall on Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to the show's website, "STOMP, a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, was created in Brighton, U.K., in the summer of 1991. It was the result of a 10 year collaboration between its creators Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas."

Both creators have a wealth of experience in music, especially percussion, as well directing and producing.

"It's going to be an amazing performance with pretty much anything used from 55-gallon drums to Zippo lighters," said Amanda Thornberry, marketing manager for the River Campus.

Thornberry does mean "anything." The list of items from the Stomp website includes 30 brooms, eight lids, one tall trash can, five short trash cans, 10 6-foot-6-inch long poles, 15 pounds of sand, four blocks of athlete's chalk, 12 pairs of drumsticks, 200 liters of water, 12 boxes of matches and eight bananas. No, the performers don't use the kitchen sink. While doing a radio interview on Magic 95.1 in Carbondale, Ill., three of the performers used nothing but drumsticks, a water cooler jug and a countertop to make music.

Thornberry said Stomp began "as street performances in the U.K., and it grew to international sensations over the past 13 years. They've performed in over 350 cities and 36 countries worldwide."

She said there will be no intermission during the show.

"Basically, from start to finish, they are continuously making music with anything that they can get their hands on," she said.

In addition to the critically acclaimed stage show, "Stomp" has been featured on television numerous times. "Stomp" performers were invited by Quincy Jones and President Bill Clinton to celebrate the new year by performing on CBS's nationwide telecast of "America's Millennium," and in a more humorous TV appearance, "Stomp" members were the Buchmans' new upstairs neighbors in a 1998 episode of the NBC sitcom, "Mad About You." The 1997 HBO special "Stomp Out Loud" received four Emmy nominations and spawned a Las Vegas show.

For the North American tour, "Stomp" will bring a few surprises. Some sections of the show are updated and restructured with the addition of two new full-scale routines, using props like tractor tire inner tubes and paint cans, according to the show's website.

Stomp will march in at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday at the Bedell Performance Hall. Ticket prices range from $38 to $44.