No oneknows how to make a more inspired mess than Blue Man Group. Whether they’rebeating on drums and generating a kaleidoscopic spray of airborne paint, orcatching flying gumballs with their mouths and spewing the paint onto canvases,or feasting on Twinkies, or chomping out a Cap’n Crunch symphony, thebald-and-blue characters approach each messy, noisy enterprise with theexpertise and determination of children. And the audience responds withunadulterated, uncomplicated, grin-inducing joy; with howls of laughter and childlike wonder and delight. You might say that Blue Man Group is child’s playfor adults.
Atfirst glance, the stage may look like a mess. But looking closer, it’s far from one. Don’t confusechild’s play with childishness. “Wehave things that we think about, and they express themselves in these weirdways,” says Phil Stanton, co-founder of Blue Man Group with Matt Goldman andChris Wink. “A lot of what we do is colorful, and kids enjoy it, and adults areentertained by it, whether they get the idea behind it or not. We’re usuallylooking at things from the point of community or relationships. We’re trying tosay something about the power of a group. That’s why there are three Blue Men;three is the smallest number that makes up a group.”
Goldmanadds, “Preserving a childlike wonder is definitely one of the things behindwhat we do. We believe that we’re all creative beings, and creativity can looka lot of different ways. We’re trying to get to an ecstatic, euphoric,emotional place. We surf many different interests – science and art and musicand spectacle and reading and math and technology. Why can’t people befascinated and entertained by all of these things?”
At aBlue Man Group theatrical show there is, indeed, something on the bill tofascinate and entertain everyone. It’s vaudeville for the twenty-first century:instead of an array of comedians and singers and monologists and dog acts andjugglers sharing a bill, the Blue Men – abetted by a few musicians – offer anarray of wildly imaginative flights of fancy, ranging from primitive tosophisticated, in a variety show quite unlike any other.
“Wehave so many different influences,” says Stanton. “Vaudeville, of course. TheMarx Brothers. Buster Keaton. Punk rock. Kodo drummers. Butoh dance. Ultraman,who was a Japanese super hero. It’s all somewhere deep in our DNA.”
SaysGoldman, “I don’t like to name influences because the list is too vast. Ourinfluences are almost everything we’ve ever been exposed to. Bugs Bunny is justas big an influence on me as the Marx Brothers.” TheBlue Man is a combination of hero and trickster, clown and scientist, innocentand super hero. When speaking about their creation, Goldman and Stantonsometimes refer to him as a singular being, and sometimes refer to him in theplural.
“Formetaphor purposes, we often talk about them as ‘three as one,’” says Stanton.“But they’re actually different. We try to create character differences, andsometimes that’s what leads to the comedy. In the scene with the gumballs andmarshmallows, they’re three very distinct characters. There’s the one thatcatches the marshmallows; he seems kind of nervous, like he’s not sure it’sgoing right. The guy that’s catching the gumballs seems more confident, like he’sgot some kind of prowess and knows that the outcome will be good. And thenyou’ve got the guy in the center, who’s a little bit of a trickster. He’s nottelling either one of them everything; he’s got a few secrets up his sleeve. Sothere sometimes is a difference in the characters – and sometimes thereisn’t.”
Goldmanadds, “A lot of people think that being bald and blue is putting on a mask ofsorts. We consider it the opposite, that we’re taking off the mask. Once youstrip away the hair, the skin tone, the gender, the ears, and have noparticular style of clothing, what’s left? It’s really the rawest, purest formof what’s essentially human. We’ve found that for the first third or first halfof the show, audiences think they’re looking at these very strange, unusualbeings. But somewhere in there – and I see this over and over – it suddenlydawns on them that they’re actually watching themselves. And then the questionbecomes – and I go back and forth on this myself – are we watching threedifferent beings with three different personalities, or are we watching onebeing that’s been split into three? I like to live in the ambiguity of it.”
TheBlue Man uses every facet of his being to engage the audience in situations andideas and behavior and sights and sounds that intrigue him. And he does sowithout ever speaking.
“Talkingis so limiting,” says Goldman. “We talked once, and it was painful. It washorrible. But we don’t think of the Blue Man as a mute. We think of him assomeone who has chosen not to say anything.” Theshow is not without words. LED screens display a series of messages designed tomake the audience laugh and think. An authoritative, other-worldly voicewittily explains the intricacies of modern plumbing and choreography and technology.But more often than not, words are unnecessary. When the Blue Men are playingtheir unique polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, pipes – instruments of their ownmaking – or fiercely pounding on drums, words would just intrude on thegiddiness being felt throughout the theater. Buteven when the audience is in a heightened state of exhilaration, the Blue Menare often teaching them something – even if the audience is unaware of it.Take, for instance, one of their most famous pieces, beating paint-covered drums,which never fail to rev up the crowd. What audiences likely aren’t aware of isthat they’re being given a lesson in synesthesia, a mixing of the senses. Thegreat choreographer George Balanchine was famous for saying, “See the music andhear the dancing.” That’s synesthesia. So is seeing the sounds of the drums andfeeling the colors of the paint.
“Thepaint on the drums for us is a visual representation of the music,” says PuckQuinn, creative director of character development and appearances. “We want tocreate a visceral experience. We want you to feel it in your gut. That’s why wehave as big a drum as we can find. Because that drum will literally vibrateyour viscera, your guts will resonate.”
Connectingto the audience and creating a community within the walls of the theater iswhat matters most to Blue Man Group.
“Therelationship with the audience is everything,” says Goldman. “Because at theend of the day, the Blue Man is really just trying to connect. He knows,whether intellectually or on a gut level, that in order to get to thatecstatic, heightened moment, he’s got to connect with these strangers. That’swhy the Blue Man is so respectful of the audience. That’s why he wants to gaintheir trust. It’s all about the connection.”
Peoplesitting in the front rows immediately feel a part of the proceedings, as theyare given slickers to protect their clothes from paint and other possiblesplatterings. The Blue Men also make an enormous amount of eye contact with theaudience, both from the stage and by interacting with them. Most famously, awoman from the audience is chosen to join them onstage for "The Feast," and sharein a repast of Twinkies. What follows is spontaneous – as is the selection ofthe woman.
“Thechoice is made completely in the moment,” says Stanton. “You can kind of tellthat the woman has suspended her disbelief, that she really buys into thecharacter and is reacting to him. When we go into the audience and look intosomeone’s eyes, and we see both joy and a little fear, it means she’s nothiding, she’s not guarding herself. That’s what we’re looking for. It’sintangible. We want somebody who’s going to be really lively and free to reactto things in real time. We don’t want someone who’s going to go up there andtry to act.”
ForGoldman, Stanton and Wink, the entire show is a build up to the breathtakingfinale, which unites the audience in a magical way.
“It’sall about the connection,” says Stanton. “And we also wanted to make astatement about how important the live experience is. Even though technologyhas made it so that we don’t have to have that live experience, there’ssomething about our humanity that will always need it.”
Be part of the live experience with Blue Man Group October 9-14 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. Tickets are on sale now at foxcitiespac.com!
© 2010 Blue Man Group
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