[NEohioPAL] Berko review: BLUE MAN GROUP @ Palace Theatre

[Roy Berko]

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

 BLUE MAN GROUP nothing but fun, fun and more fun at the Palace



Roy Berko



(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)



Ian, my thirteen year old grandson, who I often bring along to judge
whether theatre productions are both appropriate and will be enjoyable for
kids, just kept repeating, “That was fun,” as we returned to our car for
the trip home.



He had seen the BLUE MAN GROUP when they appeared locally in 2010.  I had
assumed that the present invention would be filled with new shticks and
gimmicks.  He was actually pleased that most of the goings on were retreads
of the old.  He was delighted that five of his favorite bits unfolded
before his big blue eyes and ever smiling face.



Yes, the Twinkies routine, where an unsuspecting audience member is brought
on stage and participates in an exercise in which the center cream of the
cake delicacy gets sprayed out into the first four or so rows of the
audience, was there.  (Fortunately, we were in row six.)  And so was the
painting created by hanging an audience member up-side-down from a crane,
and bouncing him against a blank canvas after he had been covered with
various shades of paint.  (Ian’s only complaint was that he wasn’t the one
being body-slammed.)



And, of course, the Captain Crunch cereal eating, or rather orally spraying
of cereal into the audience, was enacted.  What kid doesn’t want to
participate in a food fight?



Ian is still trying to figure out how one Blue Man stuffed 29 marshmallows
into his mouth and then used them to create a sculpture piece.  He is now
the possessor of one of the marshmallows used in the routine and, I assume,
now at home teaching his older brothers how to perform the deed.



Also included was the presence of huge balls being thrown out into the
audience for eager participants to bounce them from floor to the balcony to
the ceiling of the massive Palace Theatre.



Is it possible to spend 90 minutes at the theatre, not hear a single word
spoken, and be totally and absolutely delighted?  When you go to see the
touring production of BLUE MEN GROUP, and there is no doubt, no matter your
age,  that you should go, at the end of the experience you’ll be standing
on your feet, applauding and shouting for joy, and trying to hit the big
balls as they sail all around you, accompanied by confetti and streams of
fiber.



BLUE MAN GROUP combines music, comedy and multimedia theatrics to produce a
unique form of entertainment.  This isn’t a play.  It isn’t vaudeville.  It
isn’t Cirque du Soleil.  It is unique!



To make it even more exciting, not only is the audience entertained, but
they also learn.  Did you know the eyes see a color and the brain
translates it into others?  Do you know what 2 ½ dimensional space is all
about? Do you know “the 7 rock concert moves?”  Do you know the hysteria
that texting can create in a conversation between virtual texters?



Yes, through electronic gimmicks, flying colored paint, filling their
mouths with marshmallows, eating Twinkies, audience participation, drumming
(yes, it does get loud and the bass moves the theatre’s floor under your
feet), three on-stage performers, a band and seven Blue Men hidden in the
dark on-stage, teach and delight.



Be aware that this is a 90-minute show with no intermission.  In spite of
the warnings by the ushers, the pre-show speech, and visual clues on stage,
as the show went on the aisles were bustling with people exiting and
entering.  Several times the performers gave anguished looks at the patrons.
In one instance, a stage spotlighting was pointed at several women.  What a
bad message these people gave the cast about the manners of Clevelanders.



CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   BLUE MAN GROUP is a total delight.  Go, go, go and
have a unique theatrical experience!



Tickets for the show, which runs through February 17, can be ordered by
calling 216-241-6000 or going to http://www.playhousesquare.org
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20130215/8eccf755/attachment-0004.htm>