When Kris Lee graduated from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School a decade ago, it was with a degree in music production and jazz performance. Now she uses that expertise, along with what she learned from tap dancing and calypso classes she took as a child in New London — not to mention a wide array of skills she never knew she had — as a member of the touring cast of the foot-tapping, can-banging theater phenomenon “Stomp.”
The percussive, hyper-energetic show — in which a cast of eight creates a whirlwind of sound and fury using such mundane household objects as brooms, trashcans and matchboxes — returns to The Bushnell Jan. 12 to 14.
“Stomp,” a worldwide sensation that began as a British fringe theater show in the early 1990s, has been running off-Broadway since 1994 and has visited Connecticut dozens of times on tour. Lee first saw the show at the Shubert in New Haven when she was 10.
“I don’t think my eyes have ever been opened wider,” she says during a recent phone interview. “I saw it again as a late teenager, and it was just as amazing to me.”
Lee has been with “Stomp” for four and a half years and has performed at the Shubert, the Garde Arts Center in her native New London, at the Stamford Palace and soon at The Bushnell.
The octet of acrobatic instrumentalists in “Stomp” is in constant motion. The cast creates an undercurrent of rhythms that enliven all the physical routines — balancing acts, climbing, dancing, somersaulting.
“It feels like one big dysfunctional family, with trash in our hands,” says Lee when asked whether “Stomp” feels more like a band or a theater show.
Various members of the current touring cast have been with “Stomp” for as long as 13 years or as short as a few months. Lee is considered “a vet, one of the more seasoned members. Four and a half years! I can’t believe it! — but my body believes it!”
“Stomp” tours can be exhausting, she says, and dangerous.
“Staying healthy on the road is a big thing. I practice yoga, I work out — which people find funny, because doing the show is such a physical workout already. And I eat well. It’s not always easy to find good food on tour.”
There are 12 performers in the touring company, though only eight are in the show on any given night, so that the others can take a night off or deal with an injury. As a “swing” performer, Lee has learned three separate “Stomp” roles, including one that has traditionally been played by a male performer.
Lee’s years with “Stomp” have led her to create her own “motivational percussion group,” called Resonate, which uses interactive rhythm performances to “inspire people to believe in themselves.” The organization has a website at resonaterocks.com.
Except for a single short cry of “Oi!” as the show begins, the characters in “Stomp” never speak. This makes for an interesting dynamic if things go wrong.
“This group has worked together a long time,” Lee says, “so you do develop a special sense. Everyone is playing a different role and having a different journey. There’s a lot of reacting and responding. If something seems out of place, your ears perk up: ‘Hey! This is out of character’.”
While there are certain strict guidelines about how some of the characters look and behave, Lee says that “about 20 percent of the show is improvised. You can decide what relationship you want to have with the person next to you.”
“Our solos are our own,” Lee says. Everybody’s personal background is influential in their solos.” Her Hartt training as a drummer was invaluable in finding her “Stomp” persona, she says, but “it was still awkward, going from being a drum kit player to this.”
“You just see how easily you can pick it up and improvise. No one trains you how to make rhythm with a broom. You can’t major in that.”
STOMP plays at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford, Jan. 12 to 14. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $32.50 to $103.50. 860-987-9500 and bushnell.org.
