The music of matchboxes, newspaper, toilet plungers

As audience members entered the IU Auditorium Tuesday, they were greeted with a traditional STOMP set – a metallic grid-like structure covered in seemingly everyday objects.\nIn this case, those included a crutch, fire extinguishers, gas cans, a “Leaving Pittsburgh” poster and green octagonal “Go” signs.\nAfter a few short announcements from the auditorium manager, including that the “STOMP Out Hunger” program raised more than 100 pounds of food for Hoosier Hills Food Bank, the show began.\nA hush came over the crowd as performer Nicholas Young slowly swept his way on stage. One by one, his cast mates joined him, taking up their own brooms. They used the brushes, heads and staffs, as well as the feet, wearing what looked like sneakers and sounded like tap shoes.\nJohn Angeles performed a “double-broom solo,” tapping out a staccato beat on the stage with the broomstick ends and his tap sneakers as the dust from eight brooms rose in the air.\nThe show kept audience members entranced for two hours as performers used matchboxes, Zippo lighters, a Super Big Gulp cup, plastic bags, a tape measure and saw, putty knives, rubber tubes, plungers, their own bodies and many other “instruments” to create an inimitable experience for the crowd.\n“I liked how they could make music out of anything – literally anything,” said freshman Carmen Danhauser. “I love the creativity and originality.”\nOne intense portion of the show started with a dark stage and waving flashlight beams. The lights came up on two performers swinging from the center of the upper level of the set, playing percussion on the items attached to it. \nMore lights came on and the audience saw two other performers swinging on either side of the first, and two more behind the grid, drumming on barrels. The music crescendoed until it was almost tangible, then softened as the light dimmed back to darkness.\nDuring one section devoted to newspaper – shuffling, ripping, twisting and so on – performer Stephen Serwacki made the crowd laugh by using his paper as a prop – arm wrestling it, making a cape, even impersonating Richard Nixon by stuffing it in his cheeks and giving the peace sign. Later in the show, he slid on stage with on trash can lids attached to his hands, horizontal and wearing his newspaper cape.\nThe show not only kept the audience laughing – such as when performer Michael R. Landis danced so hard his pants fell off – but also proved interactive as Young “trained” the audience in clapping.\nYoung would clap a pattern and the audience would respond with the same pattern. By the end, Young had distinct sections of the audience clapping clear rhythms as he swept his way back off stage, though the patterns soon dissolved into a standing ovation.\nFor many, the legacy of STOMP heightened the feeling of the performance.\n“In elementary school, our music teacher always talked about STOMP,” said sophomore Megan Dawes. “We always used to watch videos of it.”\nFellow audience member and Ball State student Joe Serrano said he was inspired by the show.\n“We’re gonna go home and buy some brooms now,” he said. “Cleaning will never be the same.”