In an effort to be as inclusive as possible during my Year and to expose myself to less traditional theatrical events, I included the 1997 HBO special Stomp Out Loud on my Netflix queue.
The stage versions of Stomp have travelled all over the world and it continues to play in New York after more than 10 years, although it's not included in the Broadway lists or (I believe) Broadway income reports in Variety. If I'm wrong on that count, please correct me.
In any case, I may have to put my foot down about going this far outside the traditional musical. While I find the rhythm-making creative and interesting for a time, I really wanted it to be used in the service of some story--or at least within the context of a story.
It brought to mind the two recent films I've seen with Donald O'Connor. Mr. O'Connor's playroom tap number in Anything Goes and Beer Garden tap number in Call Me Madam also creatively use "found" objects to create some of their rhythmic interest. Gene Kelly's choreography and some works of Fred Astaire also do this. While I don't know if you can say that any tap dance can be "in service" of some story, at least it could be for more than just the sake of itself.
I did like how Stomp Out Loud included both outdoor and indoor numbers and tried to link them together. The athleticism of the performers was impressive. I assume the dances performed in front of an audience are from their tour or on-going live performances, while the site-specific dances were probably done for this television special.
Stomp Out Loud
Created for HBO
Released in 1997
The stage versions of Stomp have travelled all over the world and it continues to play in New York after more than 10 years, although it's not included in the Broadway lists or (I believe) Broadway income reports in Variety. If I'm wrong on that count, please correct me.
In any case, I may have to put my foot down about going this far outside the traditional musical. While I find the rhythm-making creative and interesting for a time, I really wanted it to be used in the service of some story--or at least within the context of a story.
It brought to mind the two recent films I've seen with Donald O'Connor. Mr. O'Connor's playroom tap number in Anything Goes and Beer Garden tap number in Call Me Madam also creatively use "found" objects to create some of their rhythmic interest. Gene Kelly's choreography and some works of Fred Astaire also do this. While I don't know if you can say that any tap dance can be "in service" of some story, at least it could be for more than just the sake of itself.
I did like how Stomp Out Loud included both outdoor and indoor numbers and tried to link them together. The athleticism of the performers was impressive. I assume the dances performed in front of an audience are from their tour or on-going live performances, while the site-specific dances were probably done for this television special.
Stomp Out Loud
Created for HBO
Released in 1997
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