As we search for signs that American society is returning to normal, this has to be one of the noisiest. While Broadway productions are still eyeing mid-September as a collective opening night, the scrappier, more flexible dancer-musician-magicians that make up the beloved off-Broadway classic Stomp are ready to get back to work on July 20, according to a report in Playbill.com.
Stomp has been delighting tourists—and causing locals to ask “why didn’t I see this sooner?” when accompanying out-of-town guests—since 1994. The 299-seat Orpheum Theater (with its somewhat alarmingly vertical mezzanine) in the heart of Manhattan’s East Village had hosted over 10,000 performances of the thrillingly creative rhythmic musical revue before the coronavirus shut everything down. But now it’s time to grab those brooms, sweep the dust off the stage, but, um, keep the brooms on stage because they are part of the act.
The Orpheum, an older venue dating back to the years of the Yiddish Rialto, will require ticket buyers to show proof of vaccination, and to keep masks on during the performance.
The touring company of Stomp will kick things off on August 16th in Utica, New York. Future locations have not yet been announced.
The British co-creators of Stomp, Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell said in a statement that the show “has always been about connecting with the audience, having a shared experience with them and celebrating rhythm together.”
Stomp grew out of a busking act that was previously called the Yes/No People and, before that, Pookiesnackenburger. (Stomp is better!) The show debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1991. In addition to the longstanding New York location and traveling shows, it played in London for 15 years, had a special Las Vegas variant, was shot for a successful IMAX film, and appeared with Paul Simon on The Tonight Show. It has won Olivier, Obie, and Drama Desk awards.
The return of the show was celebrated in a YouTube video in very Stomp-ish style.
— An Intimate View of a Young Queen Elizabeth II
— The Sacklers Launched OxyContin. Everyone Knows It Now.
— Exclusive Excerpt: An Icy Death at the Bottom of the World
— Lolita, Blake Bailey, and Me
— Kate Middleton and the Future of the Monarchy
— The Occasional Terror of Dating in the Digital Age
— The 13 Best Face Oils for Healthy, Balanced Skin
— From the Archive: Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse”
— Sign up for the “Royal Watch” newsletter to receive all the chatter from Kensington Palace and beyond.