Blue Man Group to perform at IU

They're bald, they're blue and they're back.

Choreographed with drums and colorful paint, more than 17 million people have seen Blue Man Group perform. Following a performance in February 2011, the trio is making a comeback at the IU Auditorium this weekend.

Combining comedy, music and technology, the group will perform at the Auditorium 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Students can buy tickets starting at $20. Tickets for the general public start at $38.

“The paint on the drums for us is a visual representation of the music,” Puck Quinn, creative director of character development and appearances, said in a press release. “We want to create a visceral experience. We want you to feel it in your gut. That’s why we have as big a drum as we can find. Because that drum will literally vibrate your viscera, your guts will resonate.”

Paint and vibration aside, what matters most to the trio is audience engagement, according to the release. People in the front rows will be given jackets to protect their clothes from paint and other splatterings.

“It’s all about the connection,” Blue Man Group Co-Founder Phil Stanton said in the release. “And we also wanted to make a statement about how important the live
experience is. Even though technology has made it so that we don’t have to have that live experience, there’s something about our humanity that will always need it.”

When Matt Goldman, Stanton and Chris Wink came up with the idea for Blue Man Group in New York, they said in a press release they never thought it would be as popular as it is now.

The idea for Blue Man Group came from a doodle Wink drew when he was a child.
“I had a thing in my wallet for years with a blue tribe in South America,” Goldman said in the release. “I don’t know why it was there. I never put pictures in my wallet. We think the Blue Man has always been here. The best answer is that we found each other.”

Even though the show is performed consistently in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Boston, the group has toured other cities as well. The group has even performed in Tokyo, Toronto and several cities in Europe.

“Blue Man Group has been one of our most highly-requested performances since its first appearance at IU Auditorium,” Doug Booher, IU Auditorium director, said in the release. “Blue Man Group is a form of entertainment like no other. It is guaranteed to be a theatrical experience you will never forget.”

Follow reporter Alexis Benveniste on Twitter @apbenven.