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Blue Man Group National Tour | Credit photo: ©Paul Kolnik paul@paulkolnik.com nyc 212-362-7778
On Thursday, October 8th 2015 I attended a Blue Man Group performance at Briar Street Theatre. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Blue Man Group, they are a trio of male mimes that are completely covered in blue paint and wear a uniform of black clothing. They are famous for performing entertaining acts that require making noise such as drumming with paint, and also playing active games with each other and their audience.
The Briar Street Theatre is located at 3133 North Halsted, which is in the Lincoln Park (Northside) area of Chicago. The Briar Street Theatre is the home and hub of the Blue Man Group’s performances.
I walked in the theatre at 7:48pm which gave me enough time to chat with the Blue Man Group staff while getting my tickets for the show, proceeding to get my ticket scanned and finding my seat in the theatre’s auditorium. The staff was helpful by informing me of the press kit I was provided with for the show. The staff was also very kind by thanking me for supporting the show.
As I continued to walk in the theatre, I was surprised that I was actually there. I have been a fan of the Blue Man Group since I was a child and have always wanted to attend one of their shows but never had the opportunity until recently. I definitely was excited to be there before the show even began! The ticket-scanners advised me and other audience members to turn off all electronic devices once the show starts. After getting my ticket scanned and finding my seat (which was right in the middle of the theatre’s auditorium), I sat down and turned off my cellphone. After turning off my cellphone, I slowly glanced around the theatre to observe the stage, the abundant amount of stage lights, and the enormous decorative balls hanging above the audience seats. I also noticed many pairs of 2 long plastic, funnel tubes that were also hanging intertwined from the ceiling like chandeliers.
paul@paulkolnik.com| nyc 212-362-7778
The show started at approximately at 8pm. The three main characters of the show, the Blue Man Group opened up the show with a drumming introduction where they each had their own bottle of different colored paint. While one of the blue men was drumming in the middle of the group, the other two blue men would pour their paint bottle on the canvas of the drum to make a huge splash of color. Audience members in the front rows were prepared for any mess by wearing clear ponchos. This activity is the most famous depiction of the Blue Man Group – their recognizable trademark of entertaining audiences by being talented and creatively colorful.
As the show continued it incorporated uses of technology such as gigantic cellphones for a skit that was a revelation for society. The gigantic cellphones were meant to resemble the popular iPhone, but in this scenario the gigantic technological device was called a “GiPad”.This was definitely my favorite part of the show because each Blue Man had his own huge “GiPad” and each of them were reading different stories on each “GiPad” which caused the audience to shift their audience to multiple screens before time ran out and the page was turned. This tactic was a part of the message the Blue Man Group was trying to convey – us as a society are very involved in our technological devices. Later, they played a slot machine game together by each taking turns dragging their hands down the huge “GiPad” touch screen. Additionally, later on in the show they brought a female audience member to the stage to eat Twinkies with them at the dinner table scene, and they brought a male audience member to the stage to be used as a paint-lathered stamp object to make a large painting.
The middle of the show consisted of different skits for example a marshmallow toss and catch where the Blue Man Group was only allowed to catch the marshmallows with their mouth. Another example of a skit in the middle of the show was when they performed magic by walking behind their “GiPads” which had a mirror app on the front screen but once they walked behind the “GiPad” they each had an outfit transformation; this was a cool magic segment to include in the show. I definitely found it interesting because I did not expect the Blue Man Group to do any magic whatsoever. It was very fun to watch! The end of the show consisted of a Simon says-mode dance party for the audience to participate in. Streamers were released from the ceiling while “the many pairs of 2 long plastic, funnel tubes that were also hanging intertwined from the ceiling like chandeliers”, as previously mentioned, started spinning. The decorative balls, which were filled with colorful lights inside of them, were released to be thrown around like beach balls at a concert. It definitely was a concert as well because there was a live band playing music on a high box suite while the Blue Man Group was performing.
Blue Man Group National Tour Credit photo: ©Paul Kolnik
With that being said I can whole-heartly agree with the description of the Blue Man Group on their main website: “Blue Man Group combines music, technology and comedy to create a form of entertainment that defies categorization and appeals to people of all ages. Blue Man Group’s shows have been described by critics as “innovative,” “energetic” and “wildly entertaining.” But the only way to truly understand Blue Man Group’s global popularity is to see the show for yourself.”
Below are a few interesting and quick facts about the Blue Man Group:
Blue Man Group (blueman.com) is an award-winning global entertainment company best known for its creative stage productions around the world. It developed through collaboration among three close friends, Chris Wink, Phil Stanton and Matt Goldman on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, with its first formal production in 1991 at the Astor Place Theatre.
Blue Man Group currently has ongoing theatrical productions in Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston, Chicago, New York and Berlin, along with a North/South American Tour.
With 3,600 shows each year, over 35 million people have experienced Blue Man Group to date.
To learn more about the Blue Man Group check out their website: http://www.blueman.com/chicago/about-show
(If you are interested in going to a show, the Briar Street Theatre has a great “College Student Ticket Offer” I strongly recommend taking advantage of!)
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