Since 1987, Blue Man Group have been creating something unique that scores of reviewers and audiences have failed to describe. And perhaps that’s just as well. Seeing them for the first time at the Lowry on their Bluevolution World Tour without any preconceptions proved an ideal way to experience this performance phenomenon which has been going strong, in franchise form, since those early days.
In the US they have an extraordinary following, having had a residency in Las Vegas since 2000 and a run of over 17,000 shows at their own off-Broadway theatre. You get the impression there’s a pretty committed audience for repeat visits as well as newly appealing to the curious. What’s interesting is that in any other guise this performance art/mime would leave most people baffled, but Blue Man Group have taken the essence of those often all too serious art forms and turned them into a loud, vast, and colourful spectacle.
The Blue Men are three strange bald characters, with blue skin and black clothes. They’re like aliens, not only in their blueness but in their charmingly childlike and naive curiosity, as though they’re seeing everything for the first time. But don’t be fooled – they’re out to make mischief – and the first four rows of the Circle are swathed in blue ponchos because things are going to get messy. Paint bounces off drums, water splashes everywhere, ingenious paper streamers (recycled, we are assured) fall in seeming slow motion over the audience.
All three performers are accomplished non-verbal Clowns, perfectly deadpan throughout as they perform brilliant physical comedy and clever tricks. Their interaction with the audience – which might not be for everyone and rather slows the pace of the show while they wander the Circle, selecting unfortunate victims – is a strange mix of child-like playfulness and unnervingly threatening. It’s all live streamed from a hand-held camera that follows them around, capturing the uneasy looks on some of the audience members’ faces and people shrinking into their seats, trying not to be picked. Happily, those that are take it all in their stride.
At the heart of the show, though, is music and the Blue Men are joined on stage by ‘The Rockstar’ who delivers a riotous live multi-instrumental score. She’s mostly behind a mesh screen and only partially visible but gets her moment towards the end of the show – and a roar of appreciation from the audience. There are some great moments when the Blue Men play a huge xylophone (of sorts) made of plastic pipes (the plumbing kind) which they slap with paddles, making a lovely hollow plopping sort of sound. There are thin light-sabre-like things that provide pleasing swishy sounds. We all get to join in with some air punching and roaring, guided by The Rock Concert Instruction Manual.
These instructions are just some of the things that light up the highly technical set, packed with screens that show some amazing graphics along with very funny captions, audience instructions and visual jokes. There’s a great sequence with simple animated figures, absorbed in looking at their phones, who come to nasty ends as a consequence – and which proves that the age-old joke of someone not looking where they’re going and falling down an uncovered manhole can still be funny.
And that’s really what’s at the heart of this show – traditional (and very family-friendly) entertainment given a contemporary (and highly technical) twist. Well written, full of humour and exquisitely performed.
Runs until 6 October 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
loud, brash, fun
