When you walk into the auditorium at the venue for the Blue Man Group at Universal, you notice that it is not of great size. Everywhere is black and the first few rows of seating have “water capes” hung on them! We were puzzled.
The next thing you notice is the red lettering from the LCD on either side of the stage. This flashes up with general information then, as time passes and the beginning of the show is approaching, the messages start to change. You first notice this by the laughing the audience are doing. It begins with one or two people laughing and everyone else wondering what is going on. Then the penny drops and everyone gradually starts to concentrate on the LCD. This keeps you occupied for about 10 minutes and then the music starts.
It is quite loud drumming but has a good beat to it. The lights are down to give a good effect. The three blue “aliens” appear and are fascinated by the audience. Not a word is spoken throughout the performance but a lot is “said”. During the show many performances are given of a comedic but highly skilful manner. These include painting with a paint ball which was caught in the mouth and catching an inordinate amount of “balls” of some description, again in the mouth. It has to be seen to be believed.
Their skill in making “music” with nothing more than drum sticks and plumbing pipe has to be applauded. The water capes came into play when the group hammered out their energy through the drum sticks and on to the tops of the “kettle drums”, the tops of which were each saturated in a different liquid paint. There was plenty of vibration hence the splashing.
There were also a couple of audience participation moments. (Just because you are not sat at the front, don’t think you have escaped their attention, but don’t worry, it is nothing like being in the audience with Freddy Star! ) It was amazing to see three people plucked from the crowd and seated on stage and have strings attached to both ears. These were then attached to drum sticks and rhythmically moved by the Blue Men. This show needs to be seen to be believed. I would like to tell you more but I don’t want to spoil the show.
We were asked if the Blue Man Group show was Cirque due Soleil. I would not even compare the two. They are both two very different performances but equally excellent in their own fields. This definitely has to be one for your list of things to do. The whole show lasts about 1. 5 hours. Would I watch it again? You bet! Great fun.