[ WEEKEND ]

COURTESY OF ELISSA JOSEPHSOHN

Noisy romp

Raucous show makes
everyday objects sing

WHEN THE cast of "Stomp" bangs its way back into the Hawaii Theatre on Tuesday night, it will be with materials that continue to be manufactured in England.

'Stomp' Where: Hawaii Theatre When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Dec. 25; 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 26; 8 p.m. Dec. 27 through 29; 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Dec. 30; 8 p.m. Dec. 31; 5 and 9 p.m. Jan. 1; and 3 and 7 p.m. Jan. 2. The cast will also make appearances at noon Tuesday at Tamarind Park and 11 a.m. Dec. 26 at Ward Warehouse. Tickets: $25 to $50 (discounts available for students, seniors and military) Call: 528-0506

Approximately 60 to 70 percent of the props used to make music in the production are imported, according to original cast member and North American tour rehearsal director Fiona Wilkes.

"It used to be more, but we've found things that we can get here," she said last week by phone from New York City. "We learned the hard way."

Those push brooms you'll see throughout the performance? They're assembled in the United States, but both head and handle are shipped in crates across the Atlantic.

So are the kitchen sinks and garbage cans that cast members "play" during the aural mayhem. Other items, like boxes of matches and basketballs, are purchased on the mainland.

"A lot of the new routines were written here, so we use what we've found in America," said Wilkes. "They're our instruments."

ORIGINALLY CREATED by co-directors Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, "Stomp" made its Off Broadway debut a decade ago after a successful run abroad.

There are currently two 12-member casts that supply the eight performers for each gig in North America. One is permanently based in New York, while the other is the touring group. The setup is mirrored in Europe, where one cast remains in London and another travels to neighboring countries.

Although the premise of the plotless and dialogue-free show remains the same, audiences are guaranteed a different performance from the last time "Stomp" played at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Even if you attend more than one date during the 2004 run, Wilkes is confident you'll notice differences from night to night.

"The basic skeleton is there, but because there are different individuals (involved) every night, you'll see a different show," she said. "It's (due to) individual personality and how we react to each other, as well as the audience."

COURTESY OF ELISSA JOSEPHSOHN Radford High School alum Andres Fernandez joined "Stomp" about seven years ago.

ALSO MAKING his return to the islands next week is former Hawaii resident Andres Fernandez.

A graduate of Radford High School, he joined the cast of "Stomp" a little more than seven years ago. Even though he wasn't much of a dancer, Fernandez's background as a singer with his brother led him to audition in Los Angeles after seeing a performance during the production's first visit to Hawaii in 1996.

"My brother Johnny, he got into the show 'Miss Saigon,' so he was touring," he said last week by phone from his home in Las Vegas. "He had some down time, (so) he wanted me to come up and audition for musicals and stuff."

Fernandez, who spent his days working at a local Jack in the Box and taking care of his young son, took his brother up on the offer. The two ended up trying out for "Starlight Express," "The Lion King" and "Stomp."

While brother Johnny got called back the first two times, the third audition was the charm for Andres.

"I got called back and my brother didn't," he said. "I was just surprised, but Johnny was jumping around like he got called back."

After training in New York for two months, Fernandez replaced Kamehameha graduate Chad Kukahiko. Damien High grad Ivan Delaforce was another member of the North American touring cast at the time. Other cast members who grew up in Hawaii include Roxy Flores, Konrad Kendrick and Kekoa Bayang.

A fourth performer, Leilani Dibble, has family in Hawaii (her parents were born and raised here), although she grew up in San Francisco. Of the four, only Kendrick and Dibble continue to travel with "Stomp." Dibble will be in Honolulu this month, while Kendrick is a member of the European touring cast.

COURTESY OF ELISSA JOSEPHSOHN On the cover: "Stomp."

NOW THAT he's turned 30, this might be the last chance for Hawaii residents to see Fernandez in full drumming and dancing glory. With seven and a half years of experience under his belt and a growing family at home, he's beginning to see a change in his perspective.

"I think I'm going to work for a couple more months," he says when asked how much fuel he's got left in his tank. "It's getting harder and harder every time I leave and I hear my daughter talking."

Fernandez's son is 10 years old, so he takes his father's absences better than his 2-year-old sister does. The work is taking a toll on the elder Fernandez's body as well.

But after thinking about it for a moment, he seems to come around a bit.

"If I wasn't married and I didn't have any kids, I think I would still stay if they wanted me," he admits. "When I saw the show ... when 'Stomp' first came to Hawaii, I was so amazed with what I saw.

"I wanted to leave after Hawaii, but now I don't know. I still got a few years left."