YOUNGSTOWN — A supportive mom and a determined attitude came together to help Dilian Cantrell live out his dream as a member of the international touring production of “Stomp,” which arrives on Wednesday at Powers Auditorium.

Nursing a broken ankle, his orthopedic doctor shot down the idea of auditioning for the show. Undeterred, he asked his mom who said she’d decide in the morning.

“We wake up and she goes, ‘This is going be my only bad mom decision or this is going to be the best decision I’ve ever made. You’re skipping school. We’re gonna do it,'” Cantrell said. “So, I took my boot off and we wrapped it with ace bandages, put ankle braces on it and I limped into the audition room.”

Creating rhythms out of household and industrial objects including matchboxes, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters and the kitchen sink, “Stomp” features a combination of percussion, dance movements and comedy by its eight performers.

Following a decade’s worth of rhythmic collaborations by its creators, “Stomp” officially started in 1991. From its early emergence in London to dates in front of enthusiastic audiences around the world, the show eventually settled into residencies in England and the United States with tours crisscrossing the globe.

Cantrell saw multiple performances near his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut and also watched film clips on YouTube.

Recalling his first experience, he said, “I was 6 years old, and my grandmother took me to go see ‘Stomp’ because she thought, ‘He loves music. He drums on everything. He’s wiggling around. Let’s take him to see it.’ So, my first time ever in the theater was to see ‘Stomp’ and that’s where the dream began. My mom has photos of me making little drum sets in my bed with plastic trash cans and stealing her pots and pans to drum around the house.”

Even if he wasn’t picked for the cast, Cantrell felt completely satisfied due to how the show’s creators handled potential cast members.

“They’d teach us a little bit of what we do in the show. We’re all together, stomping and clapping. They teach us a little bit of that on the first day. I remember going home and sitting in an ice bath. The next day, they start introducing different props. We’d do easy things with the brooms or more hands and feet stuff. Then, we’d start drumming on the big blue barrel drums.

Each day, more segments contained in the show would be added. “At the end there were 12 of us, and they said, ‘Not all of you are hired. Not all of you are cut. We’re going to call each of you. Think of this more as a workshop than it being an audition process.’

“When you walked out of the room on the final day, you really, honestly, got a sick experience in the last four days. For me, if I never got the call, I can now walk around the street and say, ‘I know what they do in ‘Stomp’ and I finally learned bits and pieces of the show,’ because being a super geek for the show, it’s like a dream come true to even learn what I saw on TV.”

After graduating high school, he joined the cast in September of 2023. Having turned 20 last February, Cantrell describes himself as the “baby of the group.”

Despite a dance background and years of performing, he soon learned the difference between being a fan of the show versus being a part of the show.

“Our job as performer — and I was always told this as a dancer — ‘The best dancers make it look easy.’ The best performers make it look like anybody can go home and pick up a broom and make the music with the broom. My training process of four weeks, I learned how much it takes to really perform the show, stamina-wise. To be able to jump around like I do, at the end of an hour-and-45-minute show, I would never have expected me to be able to do that two years ago.”

He explained that in order for audiences to receive the best from the performers, the traveling troupe includes extra members for a constant rotation of who’s in and who’s out.

“We all know different roles in order to give each other different nights off,” he said.

This interview took place with Cantrell at his Stamford home during a break from touring. Performances began again earlier this week.

No matter where he is, he now views the world much differently than his pre-“Stomp” days.

“After being in the show, I carry a pair of drumsticks with me everywhere, and I’m always finding different sounds. Sitting at my desk right now, I have a pair of drumsticks next to me and I’ll drum on the armrests on my chair just to try to figure out rhythms. I’m hitting plastic chairs throughout my house and finding all these different items that make these really interesting sounds.

“Everything that we do in the show we are able to figure out – quickly — what’s going to make that sound and what’s needed. So, even walking through a subway station, I see things and I’m like, ‘That’s gonna make a pinging sound. If I hit that, that’s gonna sound like a clap.’ It’s definitely a fun way to look at the world from a musical standpoint.”

If you go …

WHAT: “Stomp”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Powers Auditorium, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $49 to $79 and are available at the DeYor Performing Arts Center box office, online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-259-9651.