If you haven’t yet experienced Blue Man Group, you need to figure out how to do so before they end their shows. This show is unlike anything you have ever seen. It is made up of three nonverbal blue-painted bald men who combine intricate percussive rhythms with physical comedy. They give the impression of aliens visiting this planet and experiencing it for the first time.
The show also includes creative lighting and water that often coincides with the drumming. They chastise late attendees by bringing them up on stage. Oh, and you can get splashed. The splashing occurs such that the first five rows of the audience are issued ponchos deemed “the poncho section.” I, of course, was sitting in the sixth row, unprotected.
Blue Man Group first debuted in 1991 at the Astor Place Theater in New York City after performing on the streets of the lower east side of Manhattan since 1987. They will conclude their off-Broadway run at the Astor Place Theater on Feb. 2 after more than 17,000 performances spanning 30-plus years.
Their first street show was a celebration of the end of the 1980s, which they found to be an inauthentic musical era. They also recently ended their Chicago run on Jan. 5. Thank goodness there will still be shows available in Las Vegas; Orlando, Florida; Boston; and Berlin along with a show on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship.
Blue Man Group is also currently part of the global circus giant Cirque du Soleil, which purchased the show for $66 million. OK, so maybe I am sounding the alarm a bit early, but I want you to seriously consider one of these remaining options before they disappear entirely.
I have an actual connection with these unique performers. Two of the three original founders were students of mine at the Fieldston School in New York City. Chris Wink and Matthew Goldman were friends at that high school. Their show was no doubt born of their friendly, goof-around antics at that age. Phil Stanton is the third creator.
The Fieldston school is a unique educational environment. It is a part of the Ethical Culture Society and ethics classes are taught in every grade from first through 12th, an idea that should be adopted in all schools. It was my first teaching and coaching position, and it had a profound effect on me. It is where I learned my craft and profession. Many of my former students and players maintain contact with me. It is a special place. You may have seen it in the news recently for giving its students a stress day off after our recent election.
Wink was a football and track star. Goldman was a soccer standout. They were delightful young men with wonderful senses of humor, which they obviously parlayed into highly successful careers. The school’s attendees are a long list of talented, creative performers, scientists, musicians, filmmakers, critics, writers and conductors. Gil Scott Heron, Sean Lennon, Walter Koenig (Star Trek), J. Robert Oppenheimer, Carly Simon, Stephen Sondheim and A.G. Sulzberger (chairman of The New York Times) are just a few.
Want to become a Blue Man? You do need drumming skills, but you do not have to be bald. Maybe I can put in a good word for you. I am so proud to have had some influence, however small and insignificant, on this creative group. I’m thinking of adding it to my resume.
Stay tuned. You never know what will be next.
Jim Cross is a retired Fort Lewis College professor and basketball coach living in Durango. Reach him at cross_j@fortlewis.edu.
