Joyful ‘Stomp’ Lets Audience Get in the Rhythm

“Stomp” doesn’t have a plot, really, but this joyful ode to the art of making noise does have a clear message: Music is everywhere, if you listen for it, and--the corollary--anyone can make a happy sound.

The combination percussion recital and dance concert--in which eight performers create rhythms by banging on garbage cans, snapping open newspapers, flicking lighters and so on--has been rapturously received by audiences around the world.

In its third visit to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, “Stomp” is as fresh and fun as ever, encouraging Tuesday’s giddy opening-night audience to clap and stomp along, making its own kind of music.

Repeat visits to this show fail to dull its impact, and things play out a bit differently with every cast change, as each performer infuses his or her personality into the mix. Tuesday’s performance featured the usual Benetton ad of side-by-side sexes and races, showcasing the youthful energy of Andres Fernandez, Mignon A. Mason, Cameron Newlin, Steve Palmer, Ana Sofia Pomales, Danielle Reddick, Matt Scanlon and Carlos “Peaches” Thomas.

Created in Britain by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in 1991, “Stomp” unfolds in what looks to be an industrial work environment. A lone janitor wanders on, shoving a push broom and occasionally turning it sideways to whack its wooden bristle head on the floor to shake the dirt free.

He soon realizes that the soft scrape of the bristles, punctuated by the sharp rap of the bristle head, creates a rhythm. As he turns it into a steady pulse, he is joined by another worker, and another . . . and so on, all adding their own counter-rhythms. From then on, there’s no restraining their creativity as they make sound with every available implement, on every surface.

The rhythms are reminiscent of drum corps, Caribbean steel bands, rock-band drum solos and--with rubber tubes whacked on the floor--spacey New Age, while the movement resembles wild, unrestrained tap dance; rifle routines; and the Brazilian martial-arts dance, capoeira.

Among the grab-you-by-the-coat-collar visuals are a drum corps of guys with metal sinks hung from their necks, who slap their rubber-gloved hands on the rims and tap wooden spoons against metal cups and pots pulled from the watery basins; a percussion section that sways through the air in harnesses to bang on the pots, garbage tubs and traffic signs hanging on the upper reaches of the factory wall; and a chorus line of men who thunder across the floor with metal oil drums strapped to their feet like giant platform shoes.

As workers one-up each other with these noise-making methods, their personalities become evident: the wiry hotshot with the smooth moves (Thomas); the big guy who’s a bit thick in the head (Newlin); the athletic girl who challenges the guys to keep up with her (Mason); the hard-working woman who keeps trying to urge her colleagues to quit horsing around (Reddick); and so on.

“Stomp” was at the leading edge of a wave of noisy dance shows that includes “Tap Dogs,” “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk” and the Irish step-dance shows “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance.”

It has helped set the rhythm of the ‘90s, and it’s a great program to see with the kids--just keep them away from the kitchen when you get home. It’s really something to stomp and holler about.

BE THERE

“Stomp,” Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. today and Friday, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. $25-$48. (714) 556-2787. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.