Audiences at "Stomp" may say they appreciate its nuances, but the closer truth is they really come to watch serious damage inflicted on garbage cans.

That's probably why the current production at the Hawai'i Theatre downplays the newspaper and plastic bag numbers and goes in strongly for the big bang.

The show is back in Honolulu for a third outing, and returning audiences might miss the subtleties that used to give the show greater variety and contrast. Newspapers and plastic bags are still there, but downgraded from featured acts to cameo references.

Even the Zippo lighters get a few less flicks.

But the blend of percussion, dance and showmanship is as strong as ever and will delight new audiences and generally satisfy returning ones. The show travels on rhythm generated by clapping hands, stamping feet and imaginatively playful use of everyday objects.

The opening push broom sequence is intact, as are the 55 gallon oil drums strapped to the dancers' feet in the finale. In between, the cast taps on matchboxes, thumps on plastic buckets and plays the two-story junkyard backdrop as a gigantic xylophone, swinging from bosun's chairs and drumming with iron pipes.

Far from random noise, the numbers are carefully tuned and choreographed.

Lengths of rubber tubing provide various tones when struck against the stage floor. In the performers' hands, they constitute a new-age, industrial octave and produce a melody that only appears casual and impromptu.

There's a martial arts sequence in which the cast pair up to duel with long wooden staves, creating not just smacking percussion, but an athletic demonstration with the compelling possibility that someone might lose a finger.

A show with the longevity of "Stomp" also evolves and changes, introducing new numbers and playing off the strengths of individual performers whose personalities are allowed to shine through the uniformity of the ensemble.

There is new hardware and software, including the synchronized tossing of shiny paint cans and drubbing on inflated airplane tire inner tubes — which the cast wears like great grey doughnuts.

There is a Hawai'i connection: Guillaume Carreira delivers acrobatic break-dancing while wielding a pair of metal garbage can lids, Andres Fernandez offers physical comic relief, and Ivan Delaforce fills out the ensemble.

The best thing about "Stomp" may be that it's accessible to everyone. Its broad physicality and clearly developed rhythms are immediately understood by even the very young. So feel free to take your kids, and don't expect them to sit still and be quiet.

Joseph T. Rozmiarek has been reviewing Hawai'i theater since 1973.