BWW Reviews: Blue Man Group Gets DPAC Dancing with Joy

By: Sep. 09, 2013
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The Blue Man Group has come to Durham! The group, which features three literally blue men on stage, backed up by a percussion-oriented rock band, includes everything from zany percussion instruments to hilarious sketches in their jam-packed evening of entertainment. Their style of performance is audience-inclusive and constantly moving.

The Blue Man Group experience is different from the traditional experience at the theater. It's not telling one story from beginning to end, but connecting with experiences through music and acting - all without speaking. The Blue Men never speak, but communicate very clearly with the audience. They use their eyes and bodies to communicate. In this production, the Blue Men are learning all about technology, as they interact with giant Smart phones. Additionally, they feature vignettes about art, culture, and more.

When the Blue Men explore art, they use paint, but not paintbrushes. Instead, they paint using drums, their mouths, and even another human as a paintbrush. When they play percussion, they use drumsticks, but aren't limited to drums. They also use a variety of materials to create innovative percussion. The Blue Men seem to be all about creating a brand new type of experience in which to include their audience. Audiences are encouraged to laugh, cheer, dance, and even participate in the goings on. The finale included a laughter-inducing song about shaking your booty, followed by a giant dance party which included the entire audience, toilet paper streamers, and ten giant balls being bounced around the inside of DPAC.

The Blue Men are extraordinarily talented performers. The hallmark of their talent is their percussion skills, but they show off some abilities which put mere humans' special skills to shame. For example, they all seem uncannily able to catch things in their mouth - one of the Blue Men plays the ultimate game of Chubby Bunny as he manages to fit countless marshmallows in his mouth as they are thrown to him from across the stage.

The music performed by the Blue Man Group, though it samples from the likes of Beethoven, Bon Jovi, and Lady Gaga, is inventively original and consistently entertaining. In a way that spans generations and cultures, their music and performance are entertaining, meaningful, and most of all, fun, for all audiences.

Blue Man Group runs through September 8. For more information, visit www.dpacnc.com.



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