From the moment audience members enter the newly opened, $28-million Stomp Out Loud Theatre at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, their senses are bombarded. The 1,500-seat theatre and lobby are decorated with a mix of objects, including street signs, license plates, neon lights, slot machines, and whatever else environmental designer Michael Brown and set designer/production supervisor Mike Martin could get their hands on to facilitate the largest version of Stomp ever produced. With an 8,000-sq.-ft. lobby and expansive walls in the auditorium, they had a vast canvas with which to create a visually dynamic and experiential design.

“We wanted to re-imagine the audience's sense of space in a city that is predominately not a tactile, human-scale experience,” Brown explains. “Setting this new production of Stomp in Vegas, the creators [Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell] wanted to create a narrative transformation between the casino gaming floor and the found-object world of Stomp.”

McNicholas says, “Over the course of its 14-year history in the US, Stomp often performed in Las Vegas as part of its North American touring, but it was only when the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino offered us the opportunity to revisit and reinvent the show within its own environment that we felt the time was right for a new Las Vegas version of the work. Stomp Out Loud expands and explores new routines and new choreography, while remaining true to the original concepts.”

The philosophy behind Stomp Out Loud is based on the inherent musicality of found objects and how those objects can be reconstituted with new purposes, both visually and functionally. Lighting designer DeAnna Fitzgerald worked closely with Brown and Martin to create the “jungle gym” atmosphere and have the biggest variety of ingredients possible. Calling the overall feel of the lighting “beautiful in its simplicity,” Fitzgerald explains the philosophy behind her design: “Though this version is its own creation, the philosophy has always been a beautifully simple one: put the rhythms first and show people that you can make music out of anything. In the context of lighting and re-creating the show for Las Vegas, it was important to create an exciting environment that still feels organic and faithful to the music.”

Coordinating the installation of 30,000-sq.-ft. of found-object décor into a lobby and theatre space while architectural work was ongoing was the biggest rigging challenge. “Ninety percent of the environmental design for Stomp Out Loud is centered on these found objects being used in new ways, so everything that was installed necessitated extensive rigging safety,” Brown explains. Martin designed a drop system for the flying props, with a winch system provided by Fisher Technical Services.

“The show was being created at the same time it was being designed and built, so we had to be as flexible as possible during both the design and construction,” Martin says. “Often, we ended up scrapping or revamping things during the rehearsal process.”

The process of lighting an environment with so many objects was definitely one of Fitzgerald's biggest challenges. Parts of the set were created daily, and then as each piece was close to being finished it was lit. And this happened without anyone knowing where each piece would fall in the order of the show. Some pieces would look great when first lit, but later when placed in context, the lighting wouldn't work as well and the process would have to start over. “It was a wonderful exercise in being flexible and not too attached to your creation,” Fitzgerald says.