Blue Man Group

Funny, playful, and uninhibited: BLUE MAN GROUP. Since 2004, the show from New York has been an integral part of Berlin’s performing arts scene, offering a unique form of entertainment. It is a mixture of music, comedy, art, and science.

The three bald-headed Blue Men take the audience on a journey that is at once entertaining, comical, exciting, and musically unique. In the Stage BLUEMAX Theater, located directly on Potsdamer Platz, the Blue Men charm their audience and incorporate them into an interactive performance. Crazy, loud, and colorful, the spectacle excites young and old alike. The unusual show has won the hearts of millions worldwide, with performances in New York, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Tokyo, Las Vegas, and elsewhere.

Throughout the world BLUE MAN GROUP is known as a team of artists whose theater shows and multimedia performances have been described as “funny,” “visually overwhelming,” and “musically intense.” “BLUE MAN GROUP is a show for everyone, whether they are young or old,” says the American Chris Wink. Together with Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton, he is one of the founders of BLUE MAN GROUP. All three of them were on the New York stage themselves in the group’s early years. These original Blue Men are now the group’s producers.

The amusing show gives the viewer an abundance of impressions. An interactive experience, it also appeals to different senses. BLUE MAN GROUP always pursues one basic theme: “As adults, we often allow ourselves to be civilized too quickly, and we conform. We are hard to inspire or impress. Our show is intended as a toy for adults and to help us all retain a little more childishness and openness,” explains Wink.

The show is a multifaceted musical experience. Whether it’s punk or new wave, Kraut rock or techno, the Blue Men hammer out a wide variety of songs and musical genres. They are supported by a four-member live band, and the quick beats really set the pace of the show. What is unusual is that all of the instruments used were specially developed by BLUE MAN GROUP and produce a unique sound.

This year Berlin’s show sensation will celebrate its 20th birthday worldwide. The impressive success story began at New York’s off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre in 1991. In May 2004, the three Blue Men ventured their first performance outside the USA, kicking off with an acclaimed European premiere on Potsdamer Platz in the German capital. Since then the downtown show has continued to inspire tourists and Berliners. After tours through all of Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, and Switzerland, the unique Berlin production has earned itself a reputation throughout Europe. The Blue Men have since established their permanent European home on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz in the Stage BLUEMAX Theater, which was redesigned just for the show. After seven years of performances, the Berlin show can look back on a sensational box office record with around three million viewers. No other long-running production has succeeded in fascinating so many people for such a long time.

André Schmitz, former state secretary of the state of Berlin and responsible for cultural affairs in the capital, has this to say: “The uniqueness of this performance show and its means of expression that rely less on language and more on interaction, music, and sly humor have made BLUE MAN GROUP a national and even international crowd pleaser. The decision to hold the show’s European premiere in the German capital proved an excellent idea. The Blue Men have since become an integral part of Berlin’s cultural and tourist brand.”

Phil Stanton, founding member of BLUE MAN GROUP notes: “Since its German premiere on Potsdamer Platz, Berlin’s BLUE MAN GROUP has celebrated unbelievable success that has even surprised ourselves. We are very happy that back then we, together with our partners from Stage Entertainment, ventured the show’s first premiere outside the USA here in Berlin. Many people had warned us, saying the Germans weren’t at all comparable to Americans – that they were rigid and unemotional. But they were all mistaken.”

In 2007, BLUE MAN GROUP moved into the Stage BLUEMAX Theater on Marlene-Dietrich-Platz, which had been completely redesigned just for the show. BLUE MAN GROUP is the only live show in the German capital where even non-German speakers can have a great time, because it relies very little on spoken language. The Blue Men communicate through gestures, eye contact, and music. All German elements in the show have been translated into English. The German and American creative team has taken pains to ensure that the show is perfectly understandable in both languages. This has made the BLUE MAN GROUP an intensive show experience that transcends language.

The World of the Blue Men
Founders and Blue Men

BLUE MAN GROUP began as the spontaneous idea of three drummers in New York. Today, it is one of the most successful shows in the USA. Long-time friends Chris Wink, Philip Stanton, and Matt Goldman founded BLUE MAN GROUP to celebrate the human spirit through music, science, art, and theater. After 1,000 performances in New York, the three original Blue Men left the stage to turn Blue Man Productions into an internationally successful creative enterprise. What began as a three-man operation evolved into a partnership that has lasted decades. It has come to encompass live theater, winning the Grammy Award® for original music, two rock concert tours, a variety of educational opportunities for children including the founding of the Blue School, and several major television appearances.

“How we started out back then seems completely insane in retrospect. We simply painted ourselves blue and performed,” recalls Chris Wink, one of the founders.

“We threw the living room furniture out the window to make room for building drums. We simply knew instinctively that we need drums. It was just a feeling,” adds Phil Stanton. “We wanted an original element in our show, something creative and inventive. But the problem was that we were neither painters nor classical artists. So we asked ourselves, how can you be a drummer – and that’s exactly what we were – and also be creative and inventive? The character of the Blue Man was the solution.”

Goldman, Stanton, and Wink were on stage themselves every day during the first three years at the Astor Place Theatre. The show is still performed in that legendary off-Broadway founding theater. It is said to be the ultimate cult experience for tourists visiting New York. The three founders now manage an internationally successful entertainment enterprise.

Chris Wink: “Painters like Jackson Pollock inspired us. He uses color in an abstract way to express his emotions. We learned to link color to music. We also found out you can make up for lack of talent with wit. The drumming and the colors helped us to create a certain aesthetic that is simple, musical, comical, visually alive, and unusual. The Blue Man wants to create something in order to make, express, or transform something.”

Phil Stanton: “The Vaudeville players in the early 20th century were also a source of inspiration for us. We simply had to see what they did because just like us they did not follow any plot. Like a genuine variety show.” Chris Wink adds, “So we used music, comedy, visual stimuli, science, and mixed everything. That’s how our show came to be.”

Matt Goldman has this to say about the nature of the Blue Man: “Many people think that we put on a mask when we play the Blue Man, but we actually take off the mask – everything that makes us who we are. It is really the most vulnerable part of a person’s human existence that comes to the fore at this moment.”

Chris Wink adds: “The Blue Man is like the part of us that feels like a fish out of water. It doesn’t matter whether we fit in, what cultural mask we wear. Deep down there is a part in everyone that feels like an outsider.”

The World of the Blue Men
Music and Instruments

Music is one of the most important elements of the show. BLUE MAN GROUP’s debut album Audio was released in December 1999 and achieved gold status. It was also nominated for a Grammy in the category “best pop instrumental.” Albums released to date under the “Blue Man Group Records” label include Audio and The Complex; both are also available in Germany.

Matt Goldman explains: “We love music and melodies. The greatest challenge for us as percussionists was to coax melodies out of our drums. This gave rise to idea of using tubes of different lengths. We were in Manhattan in a store selling rubber hoses and PVC pipes and started talking to each other through the pipes and playing on them. We noticed that they sounded totally different. That was the beginning.”

Phil Stanton adds: “People made music with bamboo tubes thousands of years ago – on hollow bamboo tubes of the same size. This led to an interesting blend of primeval instrument and modern technology. We can learn from the Blue Man not to be afraid to break rules and to twist everything a little. It is unbelievably exciting to find creativity in the strangest places. Whether it’s catching marshmallows, playing music on plastic pipes, or chewing simple cornflakes.”

This was the origin of the typical characteristics of BLUE MAN GROUP: the unusual instruments, usually made from simple PVC pipes. Each one is unique and was custom-made by hand in the group’s own workshop in New York. The unmistakable sound of the PVC instrument is created by hitting polyvinyl chloride pipes with foam rubber paddles. The length of each tube determines the pitch of the respective note.

The “drumbone” is a percussion instrument derived from a trombone. With its telescoping design, the musician can change the length of the instrument while playing it. This gives the instrument a wide range of pitch. The drumbone can also be taken apart and played as two separate instruments. The song Drumbone on BLUE MAN GROUP’s debut album Audio is a popular favorite and a part of every show worldwide.


The World of the Blue Men
Berlin and Bluemax

BLUE MAN GROUP is an internationally successful show. For years it has been part of the cultural scene in New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Tokyo. The show was presented for the first time outside the USA at its European premiere in Berlin on May 9, 2004. The site was the Theater am Potsdamer Platz, one of Berlin’s largest private theaters with over 1,800 seats.

Chris Wink: “We were surprised by German audiences, but excited. Many people, including journalists, had warned us that Germans weren’t at all comparable to American viewers – that they were rigid and unemotional. But they were all mistaken. The Germans react like we Americans do. In our shows the viewer can rediscover his or her inner child; that’s our recipe for success. Here, you lose all your inhibitions. That makes our show the city’s biggest party every evening.”

Ever since the first performance, the show has been in an ongoing creative process and has changed continuously. “It’s important to us that no two shows are alike,” says Wink. “In several scenes we have given the performers the chance to play with the audience. As a result of these experiences we have changed certain acts. We want to have a lively show because communication with the audience is the basis of our work.”

In 2007, after almost three years of performances and over one million visitors in Berlin, BLUE MAN GROUP began to look for their own venue on Potsdamer Platz. A former 3-D cinema directly opposite the previous stage in the Theater am Potsdamer Platz was converted to BLUE MAN GROUP’s new Stage BLUEMAX Theater. The building was redesigned to accommodate the Blue Men’s specific needs. The BLUEMAX is not a normal theater, but a space for an extraordinary show experience.

Since its opening on February 4, 2007, the Blue Men have performed here daily (except Mondays) in a totally new atmosphere. With over 600 seats, visitors experience the show in a very special setting. With its rows of seats like in a steeply rising arena, the theater building beneath a large dome ensures an excellent view and direct contact to the Blue Men.

In the last few years, Berlin has also become the creative center of BLUE MAN GROUP. Earlier the performers received their training and practiced in the USA. Since 2007, Blue Men and musicians have also been trained in the Stage BLUEMAX am Potsdamer Platz.

The World of the Blue Men
Facts and Figures

In each BLUE MAN GROUP show there are three Blue Men and four musicians on stage.

There are now more than 40 active performers (Blue Men) worldwide.

The Blue Men play on 14 custom-designed PVC instruments that are unique throughout the world. Connected together, the instruments would have a total length of over 180 meters.

The band’s lofts are as high as six meters above the stage floor. Two percussionists play on two drum sets and six percussion sets, supported by two string musicians on Chapman stick and guitar as well as an 86-string electric zither.

A total of more than 60 drums and rhythm instruments as large as one meter in diameter are available for the show.

One hundred fifty microphones transmit the sound of the instruments to the hall. High-end speakers with 60,000 watts ensure evenly balanced sound like that normally heard only in large concert halls.

The lighting system includes 130 moving lights, 70 stroboscopes, and eight mobile projectors.

Stage Entertainment
Brief Description of the Company

Stage Entertainment is one of the leading companies in international live entertainment. Founded in the Netherlands in 1998 by Joop van den Ende, Stage Entertainment employs a worldwide staff of 4,000 employees, approximately 1,800 of them in Germany. Each year, about 14 million guests attend Stage Entertainment productions. Sales in fiscal 2007-2008 amounted to approximately €600 million. Activities in Germany accounted for a share of over 50%.

Stage Entertainment’s mission is to offer every guest an unforgettable experience. This is done with shows that inspire audiences, world-class artists, and theaters whose state-of-the-art technical equipment and comfortable surroundings guarantee perfect enjoyment of live events.

Stage Entertainment is essentially active in three business segments: production and marketing of internationally renowned musicals and shows; creative development and marketing of its own musicals and shows for the markets in which Stage Entertainment is active; and the operation of 30 theaters at present, of which eleven are located in Germany alone.

Stage Entertainment Germany maintains the following theaters: in Hamburg the Theater im Hafen, Theater Neue Flora, TUI Operettenhaus, and Kehrwieder Theater; in Berlin the Theater des Westens, Theater am Potsdamer Platz, and Stage BLUEMAX Theater; in Stuttgart the Apollo and the Palladium Theater; in Essen the Colosseum Theater; and in Oberhausen the Metronom Theater am Centro. Additional venues are planned in Hamburg and Munich.

Stage Entertainment has a portfolio of nearly 70 renowned musicals and shows. In Germany these currently include Disney’s DER KÖNIG DER LÖWEN, Disney’s TARZAN, SISTER ACT, ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK, DIRTY DANCING, TANZ DER VAMPIRE, HINTERN HORIZONT, and BLUE MAN GROUP. The preparations for the musical REBECCA are in full swing. Aside from these shows, Stage Entertainment produces and markets tour and arena shows such as HOLIDAY ON ICE and the gala BEST OF MUSICAL.

The company has become more deeply involved in the in-house creation of new themes and productions. Musicals that have been successfully established in the German market include ICH WAR NOCH NIEMALS IN NEW YORK (the musical with the great songs by Udo Jürgens), ICH WILL SPASS! with the best hits of the Neue Deutsche Welle music of the early 1980s, and DER SCHUH DES MANITU after Michael “Bully” Herbig’s cinema blockbuster of the same name. Stage Entertainment is currently developing the musical version of ROCKY for the German market. Work is also progressing on other exciting themes in cooperation with well-known musicians and authors.

Stage Entertainment is also committed to the training of talented young artists. In der Joop van den Ende Academy, located in the company’s premises in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt quarter, each year 16 selected talents receive individual and group instruction from renowned lecturers. The intensive three-year professional training course prepares students for a career on stage as a musical performer.

Downloads

You will also find public domain press material, press photos, and logos on the press pages of our web site:

www.stage-presse.de (>> BLUE MAN GROUP >> log-in: 20pms03)

www.stage-entertainment.de
www.myspace.de/bluemangroupberlin

We will also be happy to answer any further questions you may have in person.

Press Contact

Stage BLUEMAX Theater Berlin Potsdamer Platz
Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 4
10785 Berlin
Germany

PR Manager
Margot Schwindenhammer tel. +49 (0)30 25 929 152 fax 25 929 155 margot.schwindenhammer@stage-entertainment.de

Senior PR Manager, Berlin Region
Andreas Künne tel. +49 (0)30 2592 9150 fax +49 (0)30 2592 9155 andreas.kuenne@stage-entertainment.de