Blue Man Group
Category: Performing Arts [Edit]
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Greenwich Village434 Lafayette Street
(between 4th St & Astor Pl)
New York, NY 10003 (212) 254-4370
- Nearest Transit:
Astor Place (6)
8th St-Broadway (R, W)
Downtown Bleecker St-Lafayette St (6, B, D, F, V)
20 Reviews for Blue Man Group
For my 200th review....Blue Man Group.
Astor always attractive, bathrooms below balcony.
Bald blue boys, simulating strange situations.
Perversely pouring paint, DJ devoid drumming.
Ascending amongst audience, spotlighting student stragglers.
Twinkie tearing trial, catapulted candy catches.
Poncho popping performance, nasty nerf noodles.
Quirky quick quotes, shown so speedily.
Some spooky staring, laughing like lunatics.
Dark damp demeanor, family friendly freaks.
Checked coats calling, photography post performance.
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Recommended for: entertainment for you and friends.
Fun 5, Music 5, Ambiance 5.
I've seen Blue Man countless times (ok, 3 or 4) and each time I go they change a piece of their show - mind you, this is going back to early 00s.
One of the times I went, I flew in all my staff from around the Northeast, took them to dinner and then here. Got my family some seats too and they wound up tying my brother up with toilet paper (or was it paper towels). Regardless he laughed, my mom got annoyed trying to get the blue paint of his shirt, and we all had a ball.
Music is loud but good and whether your seeing the 8pm or 10pm showing you'll be awake, energized and completely into the act. While Blue Man is now around the world, you never get board seeing these guys performed and then, trying to figure out if you can go home and make musical instruments with piping.
Oh and if you really like the music you can buy the cds outside. Bought one of their hats once - nice warm "cool" hat... though I think the cool only lasted about 10 minutes as any time I wear it, i get a good chuckle from my friends - thanks guys :P
Good for out of towners or in towners, be part of the show or at least, make laugh and holler at those who get roped into it.
Sean Approved: Absolutely Positively Yes.
Where do you send a 12 year old girl from Oregon and her grandfather from Arizona for a little bonding experience: Blue Man Group.
She: That was cool....
He: That was a happening! A real Happening!
When we paired these two up for a night on the town we thought that after the Blue Man Group they would have a shared experience that would rattle both of their cages. Full of percussion, paint and what-not. I think something happened there, because neither of them will ever comment on it, they just look at each other and sort of giggle.
I love this show.
True story.
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Since I first saw Blue Man Group on Johnny Carson in the early 90's, I've wanted to see them live. I got the opportunity to see them in Vegas several years ago, and it was a great, wacky show. These guys are immensely creative.
While in New York, I had to see the original BMG show at the Astor Place. A much smaller venue, much more intimate. Intimate enough that I got hit in the cheek with a marshmallow. The audience interaction and participation aspect was great. The show itself was very similar to the Las Vegas one, with a few 'updates' to keep up with technology, such as the 'internet cafe' skit.
Another great thing about each show is that the performers come out to greet you and have their pictures taken with you if you so desire. All this without a word spoken!
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I actually really enjoyed this play, It's worth seeing!! I cant really say too much without giving it away, but it'll creep you out & make you laugh at the same time....If you're able to try to get the tickets in the first few rows, they make you wear rain coats lol :)
EnJoY
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I went to see BMG for my 17th birthday, and I've been a huge fan ever since. I LOVE their fusion of techno and new agey beats, and the strange, custom instruments they use. Even the whole "bald, blue latex skin" thing is a great gimmick, because they can have a whole ton of musicians all over the US doing the same shows, and because they all look generally alike, the audience's experiences can be duplicated without requiring a lot of traveling and tour dates on the part of the groups themselves. That also allows there to be a LOT more BMG shows everywhere in general.
Their plays are not just purely musical, but they're audience-interactive...which is amazingly fun, to say the least. They "kidnap" an audience member or two before the show starts, and usually end up doing crazy stuff to him during the show, like zipping him up in a wetsuit and lobbing paintballs at him to music, or doing some crazy musical skit with food - that will of course shower the first three rows with crumbs and pieces of flying edibles. They even hand out clear ponchos for that very reason. I love the part they do (non-interactive, but still awesome) where they pour paint on their drums and make whole colorful fountains when the things are hit. It's a gorgeous and surprisingly moving sight.
If you walk in late, the show will stop in the middle, and you WILL get a spotlight on you...and it will follow you all the way to your seat as the announcer continually taunts you. Best be early to avoid being picked on (though it's freaking hilarious when you're watching it happen to someone else).
Since it's a smaller venue, the blue men stick around afterwards for photos with the audience. It's quite an experience.
The particular show I saw live was "Tubes", which was a blast from beginning to end, and the whole night finished with the audience tossing around toilet paper rolls until the entire seating area was covered in a thin film of bathroom tissue. How can you top that?
Remember your first roller-coaster ride and how uncertain you were beforehand, and then afterwards, the unknown disappears and suddenly all you can think is:
"I wanna go again!"?
It's sort of like that.
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AMAZING! it was so much fun, there was not a second where i was not excited or entertained.
The music was AWESOME, it was hysterical, and the blue men are hot! hahahahah
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At first I was not convinced that this would entertain me, man was I wrong, you cannot keep your eyes off these guys when they perform!
I love it ! It was a blast ! When I first saw this a few years ago, It was the best date I had. There wasn't a moment where I wasn't entertained. I laugh, I cry, I dance,etc.....
The show was very active, always keeping you on your toes, if your lucky they might even select you to be part of the show. I was chosen to go on stage, I refused until the dude gave up on me. lol
I highly recommend to watch it at least once, if you don't want to get wet I suggest you seat away from the 1st 4 rows. I was seated 5th row & I still got some what wet. I loved it so much that I went back to see it again, & I loved it even more it was alot different than the 1st one I saw.
Here is a taste of it
http://youtube.com/wat...
http://youtube.com/wat...
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Am I the only person that thinks this play/performance/art thing was a BIG WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY?
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Wow. What an experience. No wonder this show has been around for so long in multiple locations. There was not a moment when I was not entertained. I had a great time with my family that was visiting in town for the weekend. We all had a great time. The performers were amazing and the energy was rockin. If you haven't seen Blue Man Group then you are missing out on one of the best and most entertaining shows in the city. Check it out sometime.
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I guess it's hard to find a show in New York for kids, because there were a disproportionate number of 8 - 12 year old boys at this one. Seemed about right; there was some gross-out humor, but nothing too icky. I didn't like the video bits that much; they were almost a little too concrete and preplanned to fit in with everything else. Lots of audience interaction.
Waiting in the lobby to be let into the theater is crowded, and are there really only 2 bathroom stalls for women? Long lines at the bathroom, anyway. Photography is emphatically not allowed. Beware of being late, you may be embarrassed!
The percussion is actually really cool. The pipes and the paint are my favorite parts.
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Much love to Blue Man.
First, the music has a meaning. They get what's weird about modern America, the masks we all wear, and what we miss about innocence.
Second, the shows are really good at enveloping and helping me escape. There's always something going on, something to see. I've seen them in concert and at the Astor Place Theatre. Very different experiences, and both very good.
I can't wait for new stuff to come out from them.
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I enjoyed the show, but I paid about 80$ for it, and i honestly did not think it was worth that much. It was creative, and the blue men were cool...but i thought it was really wasteful b/c at the end the theater was filled with crepe paper...and although they stated in the beginning that hte paper was all recycled, it just seemed wrong. the effects were cool,, it's great for families, but i think a more appropriate price would have been 40$, not 80. Also, i was in the front row all the way next to the wall, so i couldnt read the silent radio and my neck was cramped the whole time. but i think im the only one who ever complained about the show...like i said, for 40$, its awesome. for 80$ its a bit disappointing.
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BLUE MAN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. Wow, who would'a ever thunk it would turn out this way? Good for them.
And this is where it all started, the comparatively teensy Astor Place Theater, where I first discovered the lovably nutso trio in '92 or '93. And despite their amazing evolution to adapt to a much larger physical AND virtual venues, I believe I still had the most fun watching them here (saw them in Vegas/Luxor, too, where the stage alone was about 3x the size of the whole Astor Theater).
Now they're a pretty much a franchise, and though it's tempting to hate that kind of outcome, I enjoy their creativity, wit and performance every single time I witness it: DVD, music recordings, video podcasts, influence on children's museum installation (Boston). They're just plain fun. And you gotta love that.
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So here's the dope. You're thinking about dropping 80+ dollars (you know they'll get you with some sort of extra fees for a $70 ticket), on a show about three guys painted blue? Yea, sure they were on those intel commercials a decade ago, but what's the big deal?
Well, a friend of mine was in town, and you know how it goes when people visit, they want to see all the stuff that you never would go do on your own, and so I dropped the money and gritted my teeth. The result? Well, I'd say it was worth it, even for someone of my limited means, if not just to experience something which is, quite markedly, the most unique performance show I've ever seen.
Now I'm not a theatre connisouire, or some performing arts critic, but I'd like to say I'm observant. And the Blue Man show was devoid of anything formulaic and the show was pure, unadulterated creativity (kid friendly). We see a movie or a musical, and we get used to certain things, like the good character vs. the bad character or some moral argument or some fantastic special effects all to keep our attention, even if it doesn't really stretch our imagination. Well, somehow the Blue Man Group has a really nice balance of it all, without talking down to the audience.
It connects with something deep and universal, and it forces the audience to interact in a way that is foreign to our normal, passive performance-audience experience. I'd definately recommend it to people, to at lease go once in their lives, becuase it 'resets' your creativity.
.
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I'm a chump who doesn't know (or doesn't have the patience) to get cheap tickets for things, so I paid full price for this show, but dang it all if it weren't worth it! The friend who went with me had seen the Blue Man Group show in Vegas, and my mom has seen their touring production, both of which have a bigger scale, I'm told, but you really can't beat the weird, intimate, cramped feel of the NY show. Freaky pipes on the walls, bizarre noises piped in while you wait for the show to start, and basically a guarantee that a Blue Man will get up in your business at some point.
I got kneed in the back of the head by a Blue Man! It was awesome!
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This was a blast! We came earlyish and tried to get the student seats...they weren't next to each other but what can you do? It was still dirt cheap and a ton of fun, I'd totally go again and again!
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i saw blue man group in Boston . it was totally awesome it is fantastic .. they do some really cool trick .. i just love them. i think i would go see it again and again
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