Let the rhythm move you during this off-Broadway spectacular!

Yesterday, the lovely sun-kissed day shifted into a wet and stormy evening. While I was preparing to retire for the evening content to listen to the sound of the raindrops pelting outside my window, the phone rang. My cousin had tickets to see an off-Broadway spectacular called Drumstruck. I wasn't sure what to expect since he tends to get tickets on the fly.

I headed downtown to 50th street and discovered that the Dodger Stages is actually what used to be the only discount movie theater in Manhattan that had closed a few years prior.  We descended down the escalator into the former concession area that had been converted into a stylish steel accented juice bar. The whole interior of the former movie palace had been gutted and reinvented into a number of black box stages. One of the ushers informed me that there were actually five separate stages in that space. Who knew?After a left and quick right past the juice bar, I entered the first theater. We had good seats as usual, G-111, front and center. Sitting on each seat was a drum - ah, the show I had been hearing about where the audience members get involved and interacts with the performance!

The stage was set like an African village with different kinds of drums on the stage. Audience members playfully tapped and beat on their drums as they waited for the show to begin. The lights dimmed and the stage lit up with a vivacious group of young South African performers who brought their drums to life and told stories, taught songs and informed the audience about the history of the South African Boot Dance better known as "Stepping" to those in the black Panhellenic sect. The men donned rubber boots in the tradition of their ancestors who were miners in South Africa. The performers informed us through chants and dance performances that their ancestors beat the rubber on the boots in the same way they would beat the skins of the drums in their villages.

There was even a surprise element to the show. A "plant" was seated out in the audience who later became a part of the rest of the show as the producers attempted to merge traditional African drumming with modern percussion. A variety of percussion instruments were used throughout the show both by the performers and distributed to the audience members. The performers did an excellent job of teaching the audience how to use the instruments properly.Anyone who has the opportunity to experience this show needs to take full advantage of that opportunity. This show has traveled around the world and is on the verge of blowing up into the type of dynamic, captivating experience that resulted in Sarafina! and Bring in the 'da Noise Bring in 'da Funk. I found the drumming to be healing and invigorating.  This show should not be seen, it should be experienced.