The Blue Man Group is a Chicago landmark, although they have actually started as a theatrical concept in New York.
I had always wanted to see them acting, so on Saturday evening, 14 August, myself and my cousin Andreia decided to join the crowds at the Briar Street Theatre for a performance. Performance is the right word to describe what goes on on that stage. It took me some 20 minutes to warm up to the particular kind of theatre they play, and left amused but not totally convinced.
To me, the whole performance was a parody on contemporary art, and a reminder that even parodies are art itself and in the end become part of what they intend to expose, exploit, or criticise. The blue men are pretty intellectual, even though they are jokey and like to mime the absurd.
I was particularly impressed by the drumming on plumbing tubes. The sound was magical. I was sad that they had to add regular drums, guitar and piano to it. The tubes alone were enough. The complimentary band was way too loud and killed the magic in the tubes. Couldn't they see that?
Below is a little bit more of an explanation of the concept behind the Blue Man Group (as found in Wikepedia):
(...)"Formed in 1987 by Goldman, Stanton, and Wink, The Blue Man Group played around Manhattan in such venues as Central Park, the Performing Garage, Dixon Place and PS 122. It is not clear how much influence the Brazilian band Uakti had on the founders, although Uakti's Marco Antônio Guimarães had been building tuned PVC instruments (struck with foam paddles) since the late 1970s. Uakti was introduced to US audiences just about the same time as Blue Man Group was forming, through Paul Simon, The Manhattan Transfer and composer Philip Glass. (...) The organization's visual productions are centered on a trio of anonymous mute performers, called Blue Men, who appear in black clothing and blue grease paint over latex bald caps and play a mixture of idiosyncratic, often percussive, instruments."
(...)"The strongest and most obvious Blue Man characteristic is his static appearance, namely, the ear-less, bright blue head and face, and nondescript, utilitarian clothing. In action, the Blue Man does not speak and his face is usually expressionless, although suggestions of curiosity, surprise, wonder, chagrin, etc. are sometimes visible. The Blue Man does not communicate through speech or broad body language or gestures; rather, he communicates through intense eye contact and simple gestures. He acts impulsively and primarily as a group of three, "checking in" with the other two when making decisions and before moving to their next action. The Blue Man's outwardly apparent motivations are often presented in mild caricature to make a humorous and/or ironic point to the audience. Additionally, the Blue Man is inscrutably motivated to drum. They even have their own hand gesture, called the "Blue Man Salute", made by raising both arms in the air."
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