Blue Man Group Biography

Blue Man Group (BMG) is a creative organization centered on a trio of mute performers, called Blue Men, that present themselves in blue paint, latex bald caps, and black clothing.

Friends Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton (collectively referred to by the fan community as CMP or ChrisMattPhil) conceived the idea during the 1980s while in New York City. They began appearing on the streets in Blue Man regalia, busking for passersby and staging unusual events such as The Funeral For the 80s, and doing short bits as part of the underground cabarets of Tom Murrin's The Alien Comic, in "The CLUB" at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club.

Meryl Vladimer, the Artistic Director of The CLUB, saw their work and commissioned Blue Man Group to create a full-length show. The resulting piece, TUBES, took off after Vladimer persuaded The New York Times critic Stephen Holden to review it. Blue Man Group's popularity continued to snowball, eventually winning CMP an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award, which led producers to take the show to off-Broadway. TUBES opened in 1991 at the Astor Place Theater. This show, and frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, enabled CMP and Blue Man Group team to open similar productions and expand their concepts into other kinds of performances.

Blue Man Group's theatrical acts incorporate rock music (with an emphasis on percussion), odd props, audience participation, sophisticated lighting, and large amounts of paper. It is also noted for having a "poncho section" of the audience; in the front rows, audience members are provided with plastic ponchos in order to protect them from various foods, substances, paints, and so on, which get thrown, ejected, or sprayed from the stage. The shows are family-oriented, humorous, energetic and often employ thought-provoking satire on modern life. Much of the humor breaks the fourth wall, for example, interrupting the show to ridicule latecomers in the audience.

As the shows evolved, Blue Man Group developed a set of custom musical instruments, many designed from the observation that common materials, such as PVC pipes, make interesting noises when struck.

In 1999 the group released their first audio recording, appropriately called Audio. Although it contained the music from the venue production, it was less of a soundtrack and more a collection of full-length instrumentals that featured the new instruments. The group participated in Moby's Area2 tour in 2002, giving a more rock-oriented performance than in the theatrical shows. Songs developed during this tour appeared on 2003's The Complex. Unlike its predecessor, The Complex featured a variety of vocalists and guests including Tracy Bonham, Dave Matthews, Gavin Rossdale and Venus Hum. The record spawned its own 2003 tour, the first headlined by Blue Man Group. The tour cleverly deconstructed the traditional rock concert experience into its often clichéd parts and was chronicled in a 2004 DVD release.

Blue Man Group launched its second North American tour, The "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0", on September 26, 2006. The tour uses new material as well some material adapted from the original Complex Rock Tour. More information about the "How to be a Megastar Tour 2.0," visit HowToBeAMegaStar.com.

Blue Man Group has a large following comprising a diverse group of fans from all over the world. The community is centered on the message boards on the official website, as well as fan-based web sites like Blue Man Library. The BML also creates a weekly podcast called "Switchback," the official podcast of the Blue Man Group fan community. Blue Man Productions, the company responsible for Blue Man Group, has been extremely supportive of the fan community; Blue Man Group employees will often post messages exclusive to the fan base and participate in regularly scheduled chat sessions at Blue Man Library.

Announcing their debut in Toronto, Ontario in 2005, Blue Man Group attracted considerable controversy for opting not to use unionized workers for their show, which many labor groups regarded as being highly unusual for a show of its size in Canada. Their June 20, 2005 premiere in Toronto was picketed by members of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association, the Toronto Musicians' Association, and two locals of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Despite this, Blue Man Group will continue to play in Toronto until January 7, 2007 [2].

In Las Vegas in April 2006, Blue Man Group moved from the Luxor Hotel, where they had a union contract, to the Venetian Hotel, electing not to keep the contract. Employees who went from the Luxor venue to the Venetian started an organizing campaign with IATSE Local 720 in Las Vegas, claiming that without the union contract they would not receive a pension and could not provide adequate healthcare for themselves or their families.

On May 25, 2006, employees at the Blue Man Group Las Vegas voted to be represented by IATSE Local 720 in Las Vegas Nevada. The election was supervised by the National Labor Relations Board region 28 based in Phoenix Arizona. The winning election now permits the employees to start bargaining a contract with Blue Man Productions.