Producers Close PANDEMONIUM Tour After 3 Weeks

After the global success of their unique take on rhythm and physical theatre, STOMP co-creators Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, have taken their concept to a new level with PANDEMONIUM: THE LOST AND FOUND ORCHESTRA which had just begun a North American Tour.  The New York Times reports today that after three weeks on tour, the producers have cancelled the production.

Notes the Times: "Producers announced in a statement on Friday that strained finances had forced them to end the tour, making Sunday's performance in Raleigh, N.C. the show's last."

Prior to playing Boston and Raleigh in the US, the show toured Sydney, Brighton and Amsterdam.

Where STOMP creates rhythm with everyday objects, PANDEMONIUM transforms everyday objects into a plethora of invented instruments. Performed by the LFO (Lost and Found Orchestra), PANDEMONIUM recreates every section of a symphony orchestra, using musical saws, bottles, whirly toys and traffic cones. Out of chaos is found an orchestra.

Reworked for 2010 with a dazzling array of homemade instruments, a 25-member mix of veteran STOMP performers, classical musicians, physical comedians and aerialists, PANDEMONIUM climaxes with the human voice being added to the mix: what begins with simple melodies plucked, blown, thumped and brushed into life ends in a complex symphonic and choral celebration. In each city a 30 member local choir will contribute vocals. Luke Cresswell serves as onstage conductor of the 50+ member company and will perform in PANDEMONIUM.

Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas were approached by The Brighton Festival (UK) commissioning a new work for its 40th anniversary. In only six months, instruments had to be invented and reinvented from scratch, and an entire score composed. With the help of a crew made up of experienced STOMP personnel, expert instrument designer Paul Marshall advising, and with UK musicians who were prepared to abandon their instruments and learn how to play saws and hosepipes, LFO premiered there in May 2006. Since then LFO has broken box office records at Sydney Opera House, and played extended runs at London's Royal FestivAl Hall and Amsterdam's Carre Theatre.

For more information on the show and its closing, visit www.pandemoniumtheshow.com.