Music and Motion

Work.

The word makes people cringe. Most think of sitting in a cubicle, doing tedious tasks and dealing with frustrating co-workers.

But how many people do you know who can run around drumming on trash cans and dancing with broomsticks and call it a career?

As cast members of the Broadway production "Stomp Out Loud," Coralissa Delaforce and Stephanie Middleton have the job to do just that.

"Stomp Out Loud," which celebrated its one-year anniversary at Planet Hollywood Resort on April 17, is a theatrical journey that shows that music can be found in even the strangest places.

The stompers perform choreographed dance routines and create beats with their feet as they drum on anything from garbage cans to kitchen sinks. Every step is synchronized and timed so that when put together a rhythm is born. The actors use everything from boxes to newspapers, filing cabinets to basketballs to create the necessary sounds.

In "Stomp," anything is an instrument.

"When I tried out I was primarily a dancer," says Delaforce, a cast member and the rehearsal director. "It wasn't until I started the show that I became a percussionist."

Delaforce, an enthusiastic and fast-talking veteran of the show, auditioned for "Stomp" in 1996 and toured for 12 years before she became a regular in the Las Vegas production.

Middleton, unique to the cast with big hair and an even bigger smile, says she was always a dancer and an actress. "I majored in theater but somehow I always ended up on my brother's drum kit."

Being a part of "Stomp," however, is more than playing music. The performers spend an hour to an hour and a half before each show rehearsing, in addition to countless hours outside of the performances preparing.

"The show is very physically demanding," Middleton says.

Delaforce agrees. "I don't think you ever get used to performing in a show like 'Stomp,' " she says. "I box, do Pilates and hula. It's another way to express myself. Pilates is very restorative and they all help prevent injury."

In each show the stompers are required to do dance and drum routines that can last up to seven or eight minutes. Within these routines they suspend themselves from the ceiling while drumming on the walls, catch and shake boxes filled with various objects and do quick-paced footwork, all in a synchronized and choreographed manner.

"I love the tea towels routine," Middleton says of a portion of the show where the cast spins and drums with ordinary towels on various wet and dry surfaces to create a soft melody. "It's very melodic and was not in the old show. Plus, it's not percussion right in your face.

"I really like bins too," she continues, an act where the cast drums on all kinds of household cans and items. "It sums up what the show is about. Music is in your everyday life, where you least expect it."

For the cast, being a part of "Stomp" has become a lifestyle.

"My day starts driving to the theater," says Delaforce. "On the way I usually sing numbers in my head so I have them down when I get there."

Middleton adds, "Here at 'Stomp' we are always practicing because it's not the same cast every day. There are 16 people onstage, but there are 24 stompers."

The majority of the cast is capable of playing more than just one role.

"I don't have a favorite role," says Delaforce who can perform five different parts. "They all satisfy a certain part of my own character."

Now that a year has passed since the Las Vegas debut of "Stomp," the performers are beginning to feel at home.

"I love staying here in Vegas because I love when locals come to the show," Delaforce says. "They are so important to us. It feels good to hear that this is someone's fourth time seeing the show, and that they have brought their mom and their family."