"Blue Man Group" has been running at the Briar Street Theatre in Chicago since 1997, a run of almost 20 years. In this city, in any city, that's a remarkable achievement. But here's what is more remarkable: "Blue Man" is a piece driven by our changing relationship with technology. Perchance you recall the technology of 1997. Maybe you would not even call it technology. But "Blue Man" rarely has felt the need to change.
Unlike, say, Apple. A company — and a cultural entity — that has lived and prospered by the upgrade. A company that always has understood the capriciousness of its customers. What does this tell you? "Blue Man" better traffics in universals.
I saw the Chicago "Blue Man" at its opening two decades ago. Immediately thereafter, I opined that the show would need to 2.0 itself every year, at least, in order to maintain its audience. Wrong!
Actually, there only have been two major overhauls in those two decades. I went back after the first one and reported that, really, not much had changed. And I went back after the second one, which occurred during the past couple of weeks, and I am (still) here to report that, once again, not much has changed.
Sure, there is now a segment with the Blue Men taking a selfie. Selfie sticks are always items of comedic abuse, even though they are useful accessories. Alas, they have no defenders. Sure, there is now a funny bit of business involving passwords, wherein a cobalt gent is frustrated by the myriad unseen and illogical determinators of what applauds the strong or condemns the weak. There is some new music — the Blue Men have a hefty side-business there — and a yet-livelier and shinier finale, wherein the audience gets to dance in recycled paper and toss huge balls around. They did that before during this famous bacchanal, but it is now an amped-up experience.
But there's nothing, say, on the biggest technological change overtaking our lives — the way the human voice has become the primary activator of digital assistance and succor. The Blue Men speak not to Siri, evoke not Alexa. That's a shame. They do still chomp marshmallows, bang drums, paint up audience members and all of the other intellectualized silliness that, based on the demographic at the show I attended last weekend, has made this show a popular choice for middle-school birthday parties.
And why not? I've always considered this piece a brilliant blend of populism and cultural criticism and a fine gateway for the young not just into performance, but into visual art, that being a love of the co-founders. Such still is the case. The show has true historical significance in the trajectory of live commercial performance. If you've never had the pleasure, it awaits. But it is, of course, hard for what now has become a settled, long-running brand to remain on the vanguard.
I'd argue "Blue Man" needs a bigger overhaul now.
What if the characters were retained but nothing else? What if the digital world, and our place therein, was painted anew? What if the stakes rose, as they are rising, like the levels of the oceans, in our lives?
Not that there is any rush or economic imperative. See you again in a few years, blue guys, for the latest tweaks. Always a pleasure.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
REVIEW: "Blue Man Group" (3.5 STARS)
When: Open run
Where: Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted St.
Tickets: $49-$69 at www.ticketmaster.com
TIMELINE:
A short history of the Blue Men
Late 1980s: Friends Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink first create the Blue Men as a street theater troupe in New York. They do shows in Central Park and the East Village.
1990: Blue Man Group makes its Chicago debut as a special guest on Milly's Orchid Show at Park West. The Tribune's Rick Kogan calls them "an intriguing three-man performance art gang from New York that, as best we can figure out, does some amazing things with paints, music, food and other stuff."
1991: Their show "Tubes" premieres off-Broadway and in the fall moves to the Astor Place Theater in New York. (It will win an Obie Award.) The trio also returns to Milly's Orchid Show.
1997: The Blue Man Group transforms the lobby of the Briar Street Theatre and adds a Chicago company to its New York and Boston lineups. The show is titled "Tubes" (although everyone calls it Blue Man Group anyway). Goldman, Stanton and Wink, the original Blue Men, perform at the Chicago opening and for the first few months. The Tribune's Richard Christiansen calls the show "a perfect entertainment for the 1990s."
1998: "We are looking at five years or more in Chicago," a Blue Man spokesman tells a skeptical Chris Jones, who writes that the show will need to be changed frequently to survive. The show does not change for three years.
1999: Blue Man Group releases the album "Audio."
2000: Elements of the expanded Las Vegas version of Blue Man Group at the Luxor Hotel are added into the Chicago production.
2003: A second album, "The Complex."
2004: The Chicago show is updated and gets a new name: "Rewired." Everyone still calls it Blue Man Group.
2007: Blue Man Group celebrates its 10th anniversary. Jones re-reviews the show and says "that sense of techno immediacy has been deftly replaced by a kind of 'Brazil'-like charm."
2009: Some Chicago Blue Men get pink slips after the recession kicks in, and the show starts to slip at the box office. The Chicago cast is reduced to three full-time performers plus a few part-timers.
2010: Business improves and the cast expands again, reaching six full-timers.
2011: Making the most significant changes since its opening, Blue Man Group bows its new edition, called "Blue Man Group."
2014: Blue Man adds periodic "Autism Speaks" performances.
2016: Blue Man commemorates its 25th anniversary with a new album, "Three."
2017: The next major revision of the show bows at the Briar Street. Along with Chicago, there are shows in Boston, New York, Las Vegas and Orlando.
- Doug George
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