Interview: Cade Slattery of STOMP at Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts

The Off-Broadway hit percussion show that taught generations of drummer wannabes how to turn everyday objects into musical instruments is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a national tour. 

STOMP will play at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts February 4-5. 

The show, which centers around eight performers making music out of everyday objects, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1991 before opening Off-Broadway in 1994. A global phenomenon, it became one of New York City’s longest-running productions and has toured continuously worldwide since its inception. 

The current 30th anniversary tour launched in 2022. 

But is STOMP still stomping with familiar feet? BroadwayWorld spoke with longtime cast member Cade Slattery of San Diego about what's new with the show, how he fulfilled his childhood dream, and why parents bringing little drummers may want to hide their pots and pans.

Hi Cade! Give me a quick 2-3 line summary of who you are and how you got involved with STOMP. 

So, I grew up studying percussion and body percussion from a performer who used to be in the show back in the 2000s. This was in San Diego, and so I started training with him when I was about nine years old. And it's always been a dream of mine to become a part of STOMP. 

When I turned 18, and it was my chance to audition, I jumped at the opportunity and flew out to New York. So, yeah, it's been something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and it's still very much a dream, even 10 years later, being a part of the show.

That's amazing. So when you went out to audition, did you get it right away?
I did make it through the audition process, and I started training with the show, but I didn't get hired immediately as a performer. I actually got sent home for about a year, where I continued to hone my skills and teach percussion at the studio where I grew up in San Diego. And then I got called back out in 2015 to start doing shows in New York— and I’ve been doing it ever since.

What were tryouts for the show like? Did they just give you a bunch of things and tell you to make some music?
Basically, they'll throw you some trash can lids and ask you to make shapes and make a solo with them. Body percussion is a big part. So they'll ask you to improvise some solos... You kind of never know what you're going to expect when you hop into the audition.  

Can you explain exactly what body percussion is?
It's essentially what you would kind of assume—making music with your body. Something that stomp is all about is finding instruments out in the world from things that you never really perceive as instruments. But the one instrument that we always have with us is our body. So you can make a lot of different sounds and snaps and claps—hitting your lap, in your chest, and your belly in different ways. It's also all about discovery. You know, these instruments are all around us, so once we realize that our own self is an instrument, then it's like, what is not an instrument?  

Does everyone in the show have a percussion background, or are there some people who learn percussion, but they're really just performers, actors or dancers?
People come from all different backgrounds. There are a lot of percussionists who come to the show because it's a percussion show. So naturally, you're going to get a lot of drummers auditioning, but then you have a lot of people who are dancers or tap dancers who have no drumming experience.  

I can’t believe it’s been 30 years and STOMP only just recently closed Off-Broadway—and that it’s still touring! What do you think it is about the show that keeps it going? 

I think it's just a timeless show. We're making music with brooms and trash cans and trash can lids and matchboxes and Zippos. All these different things that we see every day that have been around for a long time. 

How has the show changed over the years? 

The directors still like to stick to the original concept. So as much as there are different rotations of cast and performers that keep it fresh, the core of the show is still the same. . . . Even though the vibe is still the same and the set is still the same—so you feel like you're back in the 90s watching Stomp again—the creators introduce new routines and we interpolate them into the show so that it’s always a new experience for people returning to see the show again. 

What are some of the new “instruments” in the show nowadays?
There's a big metal bowl. There's an ironing board that we use, which is kind of, in a quirky moment. Pot lids. We have some buckets of different tones, a big metal pipe, a metal pitcher. It's just all sorts of assortment of random instruments that, when combined together, create this interesting musical palette.

Do you have a favorite instrument to play on stage? 

I would say the opening number with the brooms. It's such a fun prop to play. I think it looks really cool, you can make a lot of different sounds out of it, and it's just the classic stomp instrument.  

If I remember correctly, there's some audience interaction in the show, right?   

I want to keep it a surprise only because that’s introduced quite naturally in the show. But, yeah, if you're a first-time audience member, definitely expect to clap yourself. 

But nobody is called on stage or anything, right? 

That’s correct. We like to think of the audience as more or less the ninth stomper in different elements of the show.  

Tell me a little bit about how things could go wrong on stage—or if they ever have.
Obviously, everybody makes mistakes, and we try to hide them as best we can. But I guess it is kind of true that since we're not speaking, it's not as blatantly obvious if we were to make a mistake . . . But every once in a while, you know, somebody will drop a paint can, or, you know, people have gotten hit with paint cans—so there's definitely a lot of danger to be had. I've slipped on stage before. There's all sorts of things that could go awry, but it's for us, it's the recovery. 

So how’s it going on tour?

We're still selling out. There's definitely still a hunger for STOMP.

I know, personally, I'm excited to bring my kids to introduce them to the show, because I saw it when I was younger and would love to share it with them. 

It's great for kids. It's a family show, so there's a lot of comedy, but it's not necessarily, like, adult comedy. It's just, like, situational comedy that everybody can relate to.

Is there an intermission?

There is not. There's not. It's about an hour and 40 minutes straight through.

Wow. That must be really tiring.
It is. But there are different roles in some numbers and not in others. So we’re spread out through the show and we can catch our breath. But, yeah, it is very physically demanding.

Have you guys ever done a spontaneous STOMP routine in public? Like, a flash mob?

Yeah. Sometimes we get out of hand. Like on occasion, if we're at a bar and we're feeling ourselves, sometimes we'll start a little jam or something like that. . . . Or sometimes, you know, at the airport gate, we get a little antsy and we can't stop the bug.

I feel like everybody—whether they're a musician or not—goes home after the show and tries to use random objects in their homes to make music... Right? 

Oh, yeah. I mean, sometimes when we come out the stage door, we'll just see kids drumming on everything. I always tell parents: watch those pots and pans when you go back home.

That's so funny. Well, I'm excited to take my kids to see it, and excited that new audiences are being introduced to the show.

Absolutely. Thank you very much.

STOMP runs February 4-5 at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available at https://ccpa.cerritos.gov