GO STOMP In this era of high-tech theatrical extravaganzas, every so often comes a show whose conceptual framework makes you appreciate the refreshing virtue of simplicity. Such is the case with this percussive spectacle, now in its 15th year of rattling audience eardrums. For the uninitiated, Stomp is a collage of choreography, dance, performance art and percussion pyrotechnics generated by an eight-member troupe that uses a mind-boggling array of "found" instruments to make music. These include trash cans, kitchen items, steel drums, matchbooks, push brooms and even, yes, the kitchen sink. From start to finish, co-creators and directors Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas put these performers through their paces, with one sweat-inducing routine after another. The opening segment using push brooms starts out placidly enough, but it soon morphs into a fiery, imaginative tempest of rhythmic clatter. One of the most stunning moments occurs when the lights darken, and the troupe use the "click" of Zippo lighters to create a tune, which is given more impact by the flames. Most remarkable about this 90-minute show is the seemingly endless variety of sound and tonal effects that emerges from what are properly considered commonplace items (my favorite: a number done with crumpled newspapers). And the creators have tossed in a nod to circus tradition with an engaging bit of clown antics. Pantages Theater, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8 p.m., Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; thru Feb. 7. (800) 982-2787. (Lovell Estell III)
GO SWEENEY TODD Thirty years ago, Stephen Sondheim's gothic melodrama arrived on Broadway as the game-changer that would usher in an era of operatic opulence in musical theater — paving the way for the juggernaut of Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and The Phantom of the Opera. In the decades that followed, Sweeney enjoyed revivals throughout regional theater, joined the repertoire of legit opera companies and was finally revived in a reduced concept in which the 10 performers also doubled as their own small orchestra. But now Musical Theatre West has returned Sweeney to his Grand Guignol roots with a vast production faithful to Hal Prince's original effort. Director Calvin Remsberg, who toured as Beadle Bamford with the original Broadway cast, has re-created the original's power and majesty with help from a uniformly outstanding cast, partnered with musical director John Glaudini and his full orchestra. Not a moment of the nearly three hours lags in this gruesome story of the vengeful barber and the bakeshop proprietress, Mrs. Lovett, who contrive to make meat pies from unsuspecting tonsorial clients. Norman Large earns his last name in his huge performance as the cutthroat, and Debbie Prutsman is truly as fine as Angela Lansbury was in 1979. Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., Feb. 7, 2 & 7 p.m.; Sun., Feb. 14, 2 p.m.; thru Feb. 14. (562) 985-7000. (Tom Provenzano)
PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTH THEATRE COMPANY
Geography of a Horse Dreamer
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