Blue Man Group runs Jan. 15-20 at the Fox Theatre. Tickets HERE.
The deadpan performance artists known as Blue Man Group originated in Manhattan in the late 1980s, but it seems as though they’ve always been around. An unspeaking threesome with blue heads, black garments and intense white eyes, Blue Man Group quickly became a pop culture presence, thanks to its numerous stage shows and TV appearances. The quizzical, azure-hued Blue Men play rhythms on PVC pipe and other found objects like performers in the musical Stomp, while practicing physical comedy like they’re high-tech heirs to silent film star Buster Keaton.
In more than two decades, the group has expanded far beyond founders Philip Stanton, Matt Goldman and Chris Wink.
“It’s still a very tightly knit collective,” says relative newcomer James Marlowe. “But because the company is so successful, we have five sit-down shows in the United States, a show in Berlin, a show on a cruise ship and the current tour. There can be from 40 to as many as 60 Blue Men at a time, but people join and leave all the time.”
When the first Blue Men began creating the group, they wanted to hook the audience like old-school vaudevillians but lacked skills like juggling, sword-swallowing and plate-spinning. So they specialized in catching things with their mouths from long distances. Wait until you see what they do with gum balls and marshmallows.
While the Blue Men appear identical onstage, Marlowe says that each member has a subtle difference. “There are three personalities, who play different roles. One tries to keep things under control, one tries to help and one tries to make things crazy.” He and his co-performers swap those roles between shows. “It gives a very nice openness to the performer.”
This latest tour features a live band, a proscenium-sized LED curtain and a high-resolution screen for Blue Man Group’s characteristic mixed-media sequences. The show combines classic Blue Man routines with new content that mirrors how technological changes influence normal interactions.
“Blue Man always strives to be current. Part of the character is to provide social commentary,” says Marlowe. “With this show we use things like iPhones and Twitter, without being gimmicky. We hold up a light to things that are a product of the moment.”
The shows often involve audience interaction. “We’re always aware of the audience. If you sneeze in a Blue Man show, don’t be surprise if we look at you because you made a noise.”
Despite Blue Man’s otherworldly appearance and apparent unfamiliarity with human customs, Marlowe says that the performers don’t think of themselves as robots or aliens. “We describe them as ‘outsider.’ They behave according to a different, complicated set of rules, but still are characters audiences can identify with.” Despite all the drum-banging and marshmallow catching, Marlowe finds it easy to adapt the Blue Man persona.
“Putting the blue paint on is not like putting a mask on and playing a character. It’s more like taking a layer off and finding your inner Blue Man.”
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Atlanta theater and film critic Curt Holman has won awards for his critical writing from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the Society of Professional Journalists; in 2005 was a National Endowment of the Arts Fellow in Theater and Musical Theater.
