'Stomp Out Loud' Explodes on the Las Vegas Strip

"Stomp Out Loud" began its open-ended run at Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas last night. 

The hotel, formerly the Aladdin, was rebranded during the afternoon and the celebration was capped by this premiere. Raucous and wonderfully rhythmic, "Stomp Out Loud" can literally drown out your sorrows for 90 minutes or so and is, in fact, lots of fun. 

In other forms, "Stomp Out Loud" has been running since 1994 in New York and around the world. Using only found-on-the-street objects — brooms, boxes, plastic trash bags, 10-gallon drums and garbage pails — as percussion instruments, the cast dances, does some amazing acrobatic and is, at times along the way, very funny. 

If you've seen the show before and liked it, you may want to check out this version, retailored for Las Vegas with a larger cast and new numbers. 

It is housed in a wonderful new theater built especially for the show. The sets and the theater décor itself just fill the spectator's eyes. There's a great deal to look at and all of it is fun. 

I discovered in conversation with others in the audience after it ended that viewers either tend to really like or really dislike the show. For what it's worth, I really liked it. 

It was intriguing and fun. There are a lot of "how do they do that?" moments and it was cleverly quick and had enough variety to prevent boredom. The cast is a marvel of athleticism and coordination and, even within the group framework, individual cast members connect with the audience. 

For tickets and information visit www.StompOutLoudVegas.com

"Stomp Out Loud" at Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino  is dark Wednesdays with a diverse schedule of times on the other days. Tickets run from $50 to $110. (For this type of show, the less the cost the better the view.) To order, go to http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/81953. 

Photo by Joan Marcus