The eccentric performance ensemble Blue Man Group is returning to IU for the fourth time as part of the group’s BLUEVOLUTION North American tour for two nights Feb. 4 and 5. Tickets are on sale now at the IU Auditorium box office and website, starting at $50 for the general public and $34 for IU students.
An hour before the show begins, IU Auditorium will host a Kids Night on Broadway for ticket holders. Grace Rimkunas, assistant director for education and community engagement at IU Auditorium, said they will be teaming up with WonderLab Museum of Health, Science and Technology to bring activities focusing on the science of sound, including making DIY instruments.
“It’s just a really fun night for kids to explore and create, prior to immersing themselves in the experience of the performance,” Rimkunas said. “We’re hoping to have them learn a little bit more about the science of sound and be creative minds just like the Blue Men are.”
The Blue Man Group is a distinctive ensemble that mashes music, comedy and audience interaction into an indescribable experience that has been loved by many for years.
Started by three close friends, Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton, the group formed in New York City in 1987. They made their first public debut during a celebration of the end of the 1980s. This morphed into a series of small shows in clubs until they had a fully-fledged performance at the Astor Place Theatre in 1991.
After this, the group started expanding, adding new members and training understudies. In 2017, the company was sold to Cirque du Soleil, where it has continued the development of the Blue Man Group, with current residencies in Las Vegas and Shanghai, and one soon to be in Orlando, Florida.
DJ Gray, a professor of musical theater at IU, got the chance to see the Blue Man Group 20 years ago when they first started out in New York. She said at the time she had no idea what to expect, since she had never heard of the group before, but knew it was going to be a memorable performance when she was given a tarp to wear before the show.
“I think it’s unique when something this special and out of the box can become commercial, and I think it’s because it speaks to people on all kinds of levels,” Gray said. “Musically, it speaks to people because music just speaks, but also their humor, the skits they do, are very human, even though they look inhuman because they’re all in blue.”
Matt Ramsey, the artistic director for Blue Man Group, said despite working with the show for over 20 years, he still isn’t able to fully describe what the group does.
“It’s incredibly funny. It’s really mysterious. There’s a lot of music, drumming specifically,” Ramsey said. “The Blue Men do a lot of drumming, not just drums that you recognize, but custom created instruments. And then there is an audience interaction and sort of experiential component to the show.”
Ramsey started out as a Blue Man himself, which was his first job after graduate school. He then started to become more involved with the creative aspect of the company, eventually directing the shows.
Ramsey said it’s always a challenge to reinvent the show to keep it enticing for audiences, while still preserving the heart of the group.
“We’ve been around for three decades, and we’ve managed to tap into something that people are curious about, that people resonate with regardless of their age or generation or culture or language,” Ramsey said. “It’s a constant, wonderful challenge to come up with fresh, creative content that still remains true to our DNA.”
One way they’ve reinvented the show on the North American tour is by introducing the role of The Rockstar, a new percussionist, as well as adding new sections and themes that haven’t been seen in previous shows.
But one thing that always remains true about the Blue Man Group is its universality.
“There’s no language, you know, the Blue Men don’t speak,” Ramsey said. “So, it’s universally enjoyed, regardless of what language you speak, regardless of what culture you’re from, no matter where you’re from in this world. Our show really connects with human beings.”
