Blue Man Group ignites Alberta Bair’s 25th anniversary season
Published: August 22, 2011
Comedy. Music. Multimedia Theatrics. Combine all three, add a spot of blue, and you've got the makings of a totally unique form of entertainment.
The Blue Man Group launches the Alberta Bair Theater’s 25th anniversary season at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 29-31 in a show heralded by The New York Times as “One of the most delightful performance pieces ever staged.”
The performing arts series at the Billings theater continues with Wynonna, Sept. 9; the Kingston Trio, Sept. 24; Cirque Mechanics, “Boomtown,” Oct. 11; Pilobolus, Oct. 18; and the Rocky Horror Picture Show Ball, Oct. 29.
Blue Man Group was formed in the late 1980s by three friends, Chris Wink, Matt and Philip Stanton, who were inspired by the tuned PVC instruments of the Brazilian band, Uakti.
The trio began to experiment with their blue personas and other entertaining routines while performing at clubs around New York City. One of Blue Man Group's first shows, “Tubes,” sold out thousands of tickets in the early 90s and soon made its way to Chicago and Boston. They released their first album, Audio, in 1999 and soon after, began selling out tickets on tour dates, and adding new shows with new routines every few years.
More than 17 million people around the world have now experienced the playful party atmosphere, unorthodox style and even more unusual instruments of a live Blue Man Group event, as the quirky variety show act evolved into a hugely successful entertainment company – without members uttering a single word on stage.
Although the three founders still perform occasionally, they’ve trained a new generation of actors and musicians to take the stage as Blue Men, and continue to organize performances and concepts and develop new instruments.
“Blue Man Group packs a wallop,” writes The Baltimore Sun. “It’s a big, loud, funny, silly, visually arresting production."
Blue Man Group refers to the area closest to the stage as the "Poncho Section," and provides each person in this section with a poncho just in case some of the materials used on stage go into the audience.
Tickets are $48.50-$58.50; call 406-256-6052 or 877-321-2074 or visit www.albertabairtheater.org.
