He doesn't even mind the involved process of getting into his wardrobe and dabbing on the signature royal blue makeup before each Blue Man Group performance.
The makeup alone takes at least half an hour.
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Blue Man Group embraces audience
He doesn't even mind the involved process of getting into his wardrobe and dabbing on the signature royal blue makeup before each Blue Man Group performance.
The makeup alone takes at least half an hour.
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7 comments:
I have never seen a performance by the Blue Man Group, but I really enjoyed reading this article about their journey and process. It sounds like performing in the Blue Man Group is exhausting, yet exhilarating. For most performers on long-running shows, I would imagine the show could get pretty repetitive. However, for the Blue Men, this is not the case. While I would imagine that all actors perform slightly different based on the type of audience viewing their performance, the Blue Man Group experiences this on a different scale. Even though they are technically performing the same production over and over again, each night the performance is vastly different. I am also intrigued by the type of storytelling the Blue Man Group utilizes. Telling a story and connecting with an audience without any words is powerful and challenging.
I, like Jess, have never had the experience of witnessing one of these shows in person. I had seen posters advertising the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas when I was little, and then was bombarded by television advertisements for Las Vegas casinos that featured these men. To me, they were strange aliens that were annoyingly interrupting my regular programming and I had no interest in them. But reading about them over the past year, I have come to realize how much I would love to see one of their shows, as the way they perform and the design/technology elements they use seem fascinating. The way they connect with their audience, eradicating the Fourth Wall, is unusual and they seem like a worthwhile group to see.
I have seen the Blue Man Group twice, once here in Pittsburgh, and once at their home theater in Boston. Here in Pittsburgh was my first time and I thought it was really cool, and I had a lot of fun during the performance despite the huge venue and being far away. The second time was even cooler. Their theater has been outfitted to fit their show so the entire house is filled with pvc pipe and everything is covered in random splotches of paint (even the overhead stage lights). The show was essentially the same but the venue was a lot smaller and the energy was so much higher. Even though I know what they do now, I would still enjoy sitting through the show a couple more times. A great experience, highly recommended.
i love the Blue Man Group. I watched a performance of the show when I was in 5th grade in Boston and I can still clearly remember elements of the show. It was rememberable that I can clearly recall where I was sitting and the majority of "scenes." The costumes seam very simplistic, but in all actuality they are quite complicated and timely to put on. I know the original costume designer for the Blue Man Group and she was telling me hoe they use to hand dye each pair of gloves in a blue dye that was toxic, but eventually they switched to a glove that had blue pigment within the glove. I would love to experience another performance to see if they have updated, added, or removed any material. I think anyone who loves music, creativity, or abstract ideas has to see a performance of the Blue Man Group.
I'm so jealous of anyone who has ever seen their shows! My sister went to a concert once, and I was so angry at her for not bringing me with her! Blue Man Group provides such a different style of music because of the interactive aspect of the show. The audience is what determines the show really. If the audience is really laid back, then the band has to work hard and get them riled up. Even with that hard work though, it is hard not to get excited by the performance itself. I have to wonder, how often do they change the casting/people onstage? The costumes are simplistic/vague enough that anyone could be turned into a Blue Man and put onstage to perform...
Blue Man Group is a standing show in Boston and I've gone three times over the past ten years. It's been changed slightly each time, but still keeps the same famous elements. It's honestly a wild show. My favorite part of the show is the ending. I won't spoil it for anyone, but it's fantastic and such a good time. One part of the show that I really enjoy is the the overall musical integration. Without saying anything, the characters are able to perform musical acts with paint and sound. I appreciated the part about description of the makeup. That interested me as a kid. At age nine, I touched one of them after the show (they didn't like that). The makeup is SUPER greasy and I wonder if that causes any skin problems... Anyway, this show is awesome, and I highly recommend seeing it.
I have never seen the Blue Man Group perform, my brother has and loved it. I think interactive theater is actually really cool and I like how it's becoming more and more popular. Shows like 'Sleep No More' and CMU's production of 'Alice in Bed' are becoming extremely popular. I think it's because as time goes on, our attention spans are getting shorter and we need to do something ourselves to enjoy almost anything. I don't want to sound like I don't like interactive theater, because I do, I really do, I actually love it, I think it's really cool. I'm just saying that I think it's popularity is due to the fact that people cannot just sit down and watch a play and become emotionally involved anymore. I love watching plays and getting sucked in to them and embodying one of the characters, feeling how they feel. I think that's the one problem with interactive theater, you get so consumed in yourself being a part of the show, that you forget to be one of the characters that is supposed to be there.
But this is going slightly off topic since the Blue Man Group is more of a concert like performance.
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