Rat-a-tat-tat! Crash! Boom! No, it's not a ten-car pileup on I-95. It's the latest ear-candy extravaganza from the creators of Stomp, who have put together another show full of inventive uses for everyday stuff. This time, instead of using regular objects to make beats, they use regular objects to create original instruments to make beats. Which is different how? "Stomp now has a crazy, complex, symphonic big sister, and she sings too," co-creator Steve McNicholas says.
Pandemonium consists of 25 cast members and a 30-member choir of Miami locals. The LFO (Lost and Found Orchestra) uses tubes, bottles, whirly toys, and traffic cones to create a "symphony of music, mayhem, and epic spectacle."
See the cut for more on the show, plus a $10 promo code for Pandemonium tickets.
Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, the creators of Stomp, put their heads together when approached by the Brighton Festival to create a work for the festival's 40th anniversary. With the help of some Stomp performers and instrument designer, Paul Marshall, they invented and reinvented instruments, composed the score, and Pandemonium was born six months later. Since then, the LFO has stomped out previous box office sales at the Sydney Opera House and played extended runs at London's Royal Festival Hall.
About Pandemonium becoming as universally recognized as Stomp, McNicholas says, "Everything you do in theatre is a leap of faith... ultimately the question is, do you enjoy the work? Do you love the work yourself? The Orchestra broke box office records at the Sydney Opera House. It's something we could never have imagined, but Pandemonium is still young, and we're still working on it, so we're still making that leap."
Go. This might be your only chance to hear the squonkaphone.
Catch Pandemonium at the Ziff Ballet Opera House (1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami). The show runs this Thursday through September 26. Regular tickets cost $55, but for $75* you can get a VIP ticket package. Call 305-949-6722 or visit arshtcenter.org.
*Use the promo code NEWTIMES to get $10 off each ticket.
