MANILA – You’ve probably heard of STOMP before. If you haven’t, here it is really quick: STOMP is a musical; yet, not in the traditional sense. It is a percussion-only musical, incorporating everyday objects such as brooms, newspapers, kitchen sinks and breathtaking choreography (breathtaking because it looks so hard). It’s a playful, loud and generally very awesome experience.
Since its birth in Brighton, UK back in the 90s, STOMP has since passed its 5000th performance mark and has become one of the best off-Broadway spectacles today, and has garnered international acclaim (and adoration). After its successful run back in 2011, STOMP is gearing up to go back to Manila this June, bringing with them two new acts to showcase, “Trolleys” and “Frogs”, which involve shopping carts and PVC piping.
adobo Skyped with one of the performers of the STOMP tour, Andres Fernandez, a Hawaii-born Filipino who plays the character Mozzie in the production and is part of the STOMP tour that will be going to Manila, on his thoughts on STOMP and his past as a performer.
Singing since 1985, Fernandez says that he probably gets his love for singing from his dad, Bernabe “The Clown” Fernandez, a Filipino bantamweight boxer. “My daddy sang, but he was… he was okay,” he said, laughing. “I think I get a lot of characteristics from my dad. He was called “The Clown” back when he was boxing because he was this funny guy on and off the ring… and when I look in the mirror, I see my daddy.”
In the past, Fernandez was in a boy band group that toured the Hawaiian islands. “It was back in the late 80’s, and there were 12 of us. We had a New Kids On The Block kind of feel back then, it was a sing-and-dance group, and we’d tour the islands for competitions and such,” he says.
“That went on for most of my young adult years, until my brother got into Miss Saigon. A couple of years later, I auditioned for STOMP.”
Apparently, what set Fernandez apart from his competition at his audition for STOMP was his innate humor. “The creator himself actually hired me. I asked them why, they said very simply that it was because I made them laugh,” he said. “In the auditions, we get to be ourselves, they see the skills that we have and observe how we pick up what they teach. I practically just let go and had fun at mine, and the rest was history,” he added.
Yet for someone who chose singing as his main performance art, doing a show with just pure choreography and percussion, it may come off as hard to perform without words. Fernandez begged to differ. “It’s not that hard, actually,” he said. “There’s a lot of body gestures, looks onstage. People can’t hear us, but we [the performers] talk a lot onstage.”
Using one of his characters, Mozzie, as an example, Fernandez illustrated how it works. “For example, me and the character Sarge, the one who starts the show, have a lot of interaction. Mozzie will get picked on by everyone and the Sarge, but none of it’s vocal. It works because of the body language and the facial expressions,” he said. “That’s how it goes, as long as it can be written out using body language and facial expressions, it works.”
STOMP has seen international success, liked by everyone who has seen it, regardless of cultural background. In the Philippines, it was very well received. Fernandez attributes it to the core of STOMP, its being relatable to anyone and everyone. “Everybody leaves STOMP with the impression that they can do what we do by themselves,” Fernandez mused.
“And I mean everybody. The first time my brother, friends and I watched the show, we were driving, honking the horn and going up on the car’s roof to bang on it, making beats because music is all around us,” he said.
And there, Fernandez said that is what STOMP is all about. “No dialogues. It’s universal like that. We walk in rhythm, talk in rhythm, our hearts pump in rhythm, and that’s how it is. It’s amazing that we can make music with just the things place on our dinner table. Bang a glass with a fork and there’s music in that. The world is our playground.”
