The first thing most people ask when they meet the performers of the Blue Man Group is “why are you blue?”.
“We get asked that a lot,” says Meridian, the captain of the Blue Man Group trio that will bring, in equal parts, pantomime, circus, art and a musical concert to the stage in the UAE from tomorrow. The characters are bald and their exposed skin is covered in blue, latex paint.
“Probably the most honest answer is that it is one of those things born out of a creative impulse of the founding members one day, where they went, ‘Let’s paint ourselves blue’,” Meridian says of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton, the friends who conceived the show in New York in 1988.
“But I think what we have found over the years is the colour blue just has a universal appeal. The sky is blue, the ocean is blue. It’s a colour that is very easy to connect with, and even though we seem kind of strange, during the course of the show the Blue Man becomes endearing. The colour definitely draws people to the character.”
The Blue Man variety show, which is a fixture in New York, Las Vegas, Boston and Berlin, is making its Middle East debut with this version. It runs at Dubai Opera until Saturday, and at Abu Dhabi’s du Forum from April 18 to 22.
“The show is an exciting and energetic celebration of life and things that are most wonderful about being human – our curiosity, joy, our desire to connect and creativity,” says Meridian, who only goes by his stage name.
The show features the three men in blue on stage, along with a four-piece band – drummer, percussionist and two string players – plus performers on some unique instruments, including a chapman stick (a combination of a guitar and bass guitar), a washboard and a Shredmill, an electro-mechanical sequencer used to create rhythmic drum beats. The performers do not speak.
“At first, it took some getting used to, especially having joined the company right after being a voice actor,” says Meridian, who has a background in classical piano and stage acting.
“But what we find is that not speaking kind of opens us up to a more universal form of connection – people can follow the story whatever language they speak. The things we are communicating are simpler than words, but deeper that words.”
The show keeps up with the times by adding routines that resonate with a younger audience.
“It goes back to constantly being curious,” says Meridian. “So as the world changes and evolves, so does the company. The interesting thing is people might not have thought about something in a certain way or take some things for granted. We take those things and make them extraordinary.”
One of their current sequences involves smartphones and tablets.
“We do some really fun things with those,” says Meridian. “We make giant ones, taller than a person. Smartphones weren’t a thing when Blue Man started – they very much are now.”
There is also a routine in which they make music out of breakfast cereal. The founders, he says, continue to steer the creative ship of the troupe.
“It’s quite striking how they continue to be curious and how excited they get about new ideas and things in the present culture,” Says Meridian. “Even now, they take that and put their spin on them.”
Meridian joined the company 12 years ago after an audition process that lasted several weeks.
“The experience of joining the group is different for different people,” he says. “I had never played percussion before, so I had to learn that when I joined. For others, they have a musical background, so they only had to learn acting instead.”
Meridian had one advantage over the others – even before joining the group, he preferred to be bald.
“Most of the other Blue Man performers don’t,” he says. “So we wear a bald cap over our ears to create the look of the character.”
It takes the actors 30 minutes to put on the paint and close to an hour to remove it after a show.
“Our pre-show preparation doesn’t happen all at once,” he says. “About an hour before the curtains go up, we get together on stage with the band and stage manager and play some music, joke around to get our energy up.
“If we have good chemistry among ourselves, it becomes easier to connect with the audience. Then we get dressing, glue on the bald cap and put in the in-ear monitors to be able to hear the band’s music and cues.
“Then we have a ‘circle meeting’ where everyone involved with the show just spends time discussing what’s happening around the world. And then, finally, we put the blue make-up on and the costume.”
The actor says audience interaction is key to the performance.
“We all go out into the audience and bring some of them up to the stage with us,” he says. “Obviously, no one is ever going to have to do anything they don’t want to do – it is very gentle. The character is about befriending the audience, so were never trying to make fun of anyone or put them down.
“You might at first think: ‘what is this, what is happening here?’ – but at the end of the show every night, everyone is on their feet dancing.”
The Blue Man Group in popular culture
Tiny Desk Concert
The Blue Man Group teamed up with the National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States last year for their Tiny Desk Concert series, in which they converted a desk at the station into their musical playground, using instruments including the Chapman Stick and the ShredMill.
Advertisements
They have featured regularly in computer company Intel’s adverts since the early 2000s. The three blue bald men were first seen in wacky, slapstick scenarios promoting the Pentium III.
TV show
The group was referenced by, and made a guest appearance in, the US TV comedy Arrested Development. One of the comedy's unhinged characters, Tobias, paints himself blue and tries to audition for the group – but does not hear back from them.
Talk show
The Blue Man group's most recent talk-show appearance was on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week. The host played his popular game Phone Booth with actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, during which members of the group were stuffed into a phone booth with Fallon.
Music
The group has created several experimental rock-music albums, including Audio, Complex and, more recently, The Three. They have also made music videos for some of their popular songs, including I Feel Love and The Current.
• The Blue Man Group is at Dubai Opera from Tuesday (April 11) until Saturday (April 15), and at the du Forum, Abu Dhabi from April 18 to 22. Tickets Dh195 on www.dubaiopera.com and www.platinumlist.net
aahmed@thenational.ae
