Monster Stomp Revamped
- Thread starter bgwilliamsburg@myspace
- Start date
I wonder if we will see any of our friends from KD make an appearance in this show?
^ That's what I was wondering, Joe. The middle drummer in the Gunsmith's picture is the current bass drum player in the KD Clown Band, in case you didn't recognize him!
No, the Marine and the KD drummer won't be in this year's MSR. The other gentleman will, along with a current drummer from the present MIU.
Do you ever get really sad at 2am on a Saturday and start thinking about the best version of Monster Stomp? No, oh well.
I remember in 2008 the Abbeystone had this like day to night transition effect that would occur before the show, or was this not a thing? I vaguely remember these LED stars hanging from the ceiling turning on before show time along wit the lanterns, maybe they're still there and I'm just really unaware. I also vividly remember this like sunset effect on the edge of the theater with the oranges and purples of a sunset fading away to blues and blacks against some countryside landscape or am I imagining this? Absolutely crazy how many years it's been without this show.
I remember in 2008 the Abbeystone had this like day to night transition effect that would occur before the show, or was this not a thing? I vaguely remember these LED stars hanging from the ceiling turning on before show time along wit the lanterns, maybe they're still there and I'm just really unaware. I also vividly remember this like sunset effect on the edge of the theater with the oranges and purples of a sunset fading away to blues and blacks against some countryside landscape or am I imagining this? Absolutely crazy how many years it's been without this show.
There was several different renditions of the pre-show, if I remember correctly this would be 2011 as they removed the film shown at the beginning.
The day to night effect was a thing, and it was very cool! I almost forgot about that, since they didn’t have that effect in its last season.
The LED (fiber optic) stars still exist, and are still in use at the end of Gloria; most noticeably when the singers in the aisles start walking backstage again.
MSR was my favorite iteration of Monster Stomp. Although 2011 was probably my least favorite season, and I missed the screens; I thought the preshow that @Joe mentioned was very funny. I also enjoyed the zombie dancers more than the werewolves, but was disappointed that they removed the water drums. Ah, it’s fun to reminisce.
2009’s delightfully cheesy video opening for anyone who didn’t witness it:
My favorite part was the knocking at the very end was done in the back of the theater. It was a really effective gimmick—I remember often seeing people flinch from just that sound effect.
My favorite part was the knocking at the very end was done in the back of the theater. It was a really effective gimmick—I remember often seeing people flinch from just that sound effect.
Classic. Maybe next time they'll have a full backing band with keyboards, bass, and guitar.
Yeah that won't happen, but I can dream though.
Yeah that won't happen, but I can dream though.
I had no idea Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light was ever part of the show. Wow.
I’d forgotten how good this show was. It was simple, corny, and it worked. I feel like a lot of the park’s recent productions take themselves too seriously despite not having a good enough production value to justify that tone. The cheesy jokes and the silly simplicity of this show worked - it’s just pure fun, exactly what a HOS show (or any theme park show) should be.
I’d forgotten how good this show was. It was simple, corny, and it worked. I feel like a lot of the park’s recent productions take themselves too seriously despite not having a good enough production value to justify that tone. The cheesy jokes and the silly simplicity of this show worked - it’s just pure fun, exactly what a HOS show (or any theme park show) should be.
It was just amazing to me at time how they built on the original Monster Stomp. When Stomp was in the Canadian Paladium, every bench was filled to the brim with guests and many would stand in the fog watching from a distance after riding on the train in the mid 2000's of HOS. It took the best parts of the show and ramped it up times 10 while increasing the production value. There was almost a cult following of fans for Revamped and the original edition that faded away with it's demise in 2011. It's sad knowing that Ripper Row was a rather regressive step in the continuation of Monster Stomp. I don't really think the park will even get close to producing a show of this caliber during HOS for a very, very long time.
* Kicks over soapbox. Dusts it off. Steps up *
First off, COS hit it all on the head. All accurate, as usual. Secondly, Reviving this thread pokes the bear with a VERY sharp stick. Take a seat, take a breath, and keep your arms and legs in at all times. This is going to be a long ride.
Monster Stomp on Ripper Row is NEITHER Monster nor Stomp. NO “monsters” and wildly banging drums to canned songs isn’t Stomp. BGW should just call it Ripper Row, or something. BGW shouldn’t rest on one's laurels performing gratuitous fan service and falsely representing people's fondness of the two earlier iterations. There is a reason the skeleton dance and the knives are the most applauded scenes. They were from the past REAL versions of MS. The skeleton dance being the common number throughout. Light My Fire was in the Palladium show, but done in a much better way. Eat It by Weird Al was changed over to the real song in MS:R.
MSoRR has some decent elements and choreography, if they’d quit changing it. The visual are stunning, again if they’d quit mucking with it. The truncated beginning and the Queen song and bad changes. Grabbing that attention first thing with the blood splash…good theatre. Changing it because of severed heads in foreign countries? Political correctness overload. Just quit hanging on an old successful show’s coattail. This ain’t that show.
The first version of Monster Stomp in the palladium was truly Stomp. Go look for the show this was taking it’s idea from. Here, no normal instruments were played. Rather, all manner of devices were used in nearly every scene to create rhythm. Simple, silly, funny, and really no story. It also had something like 15 musical numbers. It changed each year slightly with difference scenes or musical numbers. ALWAYS a packed house. But when they Revamped this show, it changed BGW shows in a big way. The simple cute shows were on their way to extinction. Everyone expected more, bigger, and better from now on. Though the pubic seems to have forgotten Eve. What about Eve? More on that at the end.
The second iteration renamed Monster Stomp: Revamped was a major production and choreography, with inventive and thoughtful creation. There was also less Stomp, way less musical numbers, and the variety of Halloween creatures was reduced. The opening scene was promising. Then the spirit of Stomp was lost to mostly using drums of some sort. The grave digger scene, knives, and tap dancing being that last vestiges of the classic Stomp aspect. But the show was just so good that most didn’t care.
Inventive and creative roll call. The slowly changing pre show, using Irish Thunder's set effectively along with the Abbeystone's theatrical capabilities and the rock 'n roll light show. The move to the Abbeystone and the movie explaining how (also done with clever direction, music and humor). The movie synced with the banging on the doors being echoed by the performers pounding inside. The entering villagers behind the scrim. The transition from cloaked witches to sexy witches. The same mix of sexy men doing Moses’s poppin’ style dancing. The strobes used to freeze dancer motion. The wolves scratching fleas and chasing the stray skeleton bones. The water and lights on the drums. The competition and humor of the knives scene. The way they swept the floor after knives scene. Using audience participation in a fun way to allow the rest of the cast to do the big change over for the finale. A very clear story where we see more and more villagers turned into vampires cumulating with everyone finally being a vampire in the last number. Each song told or moved the story and wasn’t just a random song. MS:R told the story. And. So. Much. Energy.
MS:R also showed what can happen when in park performers are allowed major input. Choreography played a huge part in this production and I believe that was all Moses and Michell. In contrast to some of some big NY name paid much to deliver little. 2008 was the strongest year for us with Josh’s and Alexia’s powerful vocals and chemistry. Not to discredit other performers, but these were tough songs and it took top tier talent to carry them off well. Those two had what it took. Later years suffered when one, and then both, were no longer involved and performers struggled with the range. To compare, imagine Celtic Fyre with just good Irish dancers, not powerful ones like we are use to. Here is the fault of big dreams and why I think it went dark so soon. This would have been a non-issue with the original MS show in the Palladium as beyond average performers weren’t necessary. Speaking of Celtic Fyre (And Fiends), using Irish Thunder’s set was smart. No big change over and expense like shows need now.
Now about Eve. I’d be remiss to not mention Rockin’ Eve’s Countdown to Midnight over in the RPT (No really, they use to do BIG shows in there). Compared to MS:R, this MUCH larger major production launched 2 years earlier in 2006. It ran up to 2008 when it was renamed to Rockin Eve's Wrath: Countdown to Midnight. So big things were going on. MS:R just had the right nostalgia and plain-old-good-show mix. Long line marathons of MS:R all night with the grande finale of Eve’s big blowout. *Sigh*
Let’s end on a humorous note of trivia, when Josh came back to BGW eleven years later, where did he land at HOS? As a vampire…in Night Beats… REVAMPED. Soak in that oh so funny bit of trivia. But, it also shocked me into stark realization of where the park is eleven years later. Or, isn’t. Meanwhile BGW is still trying to live off the successful shows, or names thereof, from the last few great AB years. Can you feel me shaking my head?
If you have read this far, thanks for hanging in. I’ll use the excuse of getting rabies that one time I was bit in Monster Stomp:Revamped, the show that didn’t suck.
* Steps down. Kicks away soapbox. Goes to wash hands *
“I look forward to your letters.” - Craig Ferguson
First off, COS hit it all on the head. All accurate, as usual. Secondly, Reviving this thread pokes the bear with a VERY sharp stick. Take a seat, take a breath, and keep your arms and legs in at all times. This is going to be a long ride.
Monster Stomp on Ripper Row is NEITHER Monster nor Stomp. NO “monsters” and wildly banging drums to canned songs isn’t Stomp. BGW should just call it Ripper Row, or something. BGW shouldn’t rest on one's laurels performing gratuitous fan service and falsely representing people's fondness of the two earlier iterations. There is a reason the skeleton dance and the knives are the most applauded scenes. They were from the past REAL versions of MS. The skeleton dance being the common number throughout. Light My Fire was in the Palladium show, but done in a much better way. Eat It by Weird Al was changed over to the real song in MS:R.
MSoRR has some decent elements and choreography, if they’d quit changing it. The visual are stunning, again if they’d quit mucking with it. The truncated beginning and the Queen song and bad changes. Grabbing that attention first thing with the blood splash…good theatre. Changing it because of severed heads in foreign countries? Political correctness overload. Just quit hanging on an old successful show’s coattail. This ain’t that show.
The first version of Monster Stomp in the palladium was truly Stomp. Go look for the show this was taking it’s idea from. Here, no normal instruments were played. Rather, all manner of devices were used in nearly every scene to create rhythm. Simple, silly, funny, and really no story. It also had something like 15 musical numbers. It changed each year slightly with difference scenes or musical numbers. ALWAYS a packed house. But when they Revamped this show, it changed BGW shows in a big way. The simple cute shows were on their way to extinction. Everyone expected more, bigger, and better from now on. Though the pubic seems to have forgotten Eve. What about Eve? More on that at the end.
The second iteration renamed Monster Stomp: Revamped was a major production and choreography, with inventive and thoughtful creation. There was also less Stomp, way less musical numbers, and the variety of Halloween creatures was reduced. The opening scene was promising. Then the spirit of Stomp was lost to mostly using drums of some sort. The grave digger scene, knives, and tap dancing being that last vestiges of the classic Stomp aspect. But the show was just so good that most didn’t care.
Inventive and creative roll call. The slowly changing pre show, using Irish Thunder's set effectively along with the Abbeystone's theatrical capabilities and the rock 'n roll light show. The move to the Abbeystone and the movie explaining how (also done with clever direction, music and humor). The movie synced with the banging on the doors being echoed by the performers pounding inside. The entering villagers behind the scrim. The transition from cloaked witches to sexy witches. The same mix of sexy men doing Moses’s poppin’ style dancing. The strobes used to freeze dancer motion. The wolves scratching fleas and chasing the stray skeleton bones. The water and lights on the drums. The competition and humor of the knives scene. The way they swept the floor after knives scene. Using audience participation in a fun way to allow the rest of the cast to do the big change over for the finale. A very clear story where we see more and more villagers turned into vampires cumulating with everyone finally being a vampire in the last number. Each song told or moved the story and wasn’t just a random song. MS:R told the story. And. So. Much. Energy.
MS:R also showed what can happen when in park performers are allowed major input. Choreography played a huge part in this production and I believe that was all Moses and Michell. In contrast to some of some big NY name paid much to deliver little. 2008 was the strongest year for us with Josh’s and Alexia’s powerful vocals and chemistry. Not to discredit other performers, but these were tough songs and it took top tier talent to carry them off well. Those two had what it took. Later years suffered when one, and then both, were no longer involved and performers struggled with the range. To compare, imagine Celtic Fyre with just good Irish dancers, not powerful ones like we are use to. Here is the fault of big dreams and why I think it went dark so soon. This would have been a non-issue with the original MS show in the Palladium as beyond average performers weren’t necessary. Speaking of Celtic Fyre (And Fiends), using Irish Thunder’s set was smart. No big change over and expense like shows need now.
Now about Eve. I’d be remiss to not mention Rockin’ Eve’s Countdown to Midnight over in the RPT (No really, they use to do BIG shows in there). Compared to MS:R, this MUCH larger major production launched 2 years earlier in 2006. It ran up to 2008 when it was renamed to Rockin Eve's Wrath: Countdown to Midnight. So big things were going on. MS:R just had the right nostalgia and plain-old-good-show mix. Long line marathons of MS:R all night with the grande finale of Eve’s big blowout. *Sigh*
Let’s end on a humorous note of trivia, when Josh came back to BGW eleven years later, where did he land at HOS? As a vampire…in Night Beats… REVAMPED. Soak in that oh so funny bit of trivia. But, it also shocked me into stark realization of where the park is eleven years later. Or, isn’t. Meanwhile BGW is still trying to live off the successful shows, or names thereof, from the last few great AB years. Can you feel me shaking my head?
If you have read this far, thanks for hanging in. I’ll use the excuse of getting rabies that one time I was bit in Monster Stomp:Revamped, the show that didn’t suck.
* Steps down. Kicks away soapbox. Goes to wash hands *
“I look forward to your letters.” - Craig Ferguson
^^ Now, kids, let this be a lesson to you: just because you’re a rich Broadway producer, doesn’t mean you will always be a better artist than the smaller person that has a big idea. Making $6 million a week is nice, but is it worth losing your artistic soul in the process?
Totally. ?
Totally. ?
