"WEARING BLACK SEEING BLUE (MAN GROUP)

YouTube - Blue man group shadow drumming pvc Several years ago I went up to Boston from Cape Cod to see "Blue Man Group" at the Charles Playhouse Theater. I have actually seen "Blue Man Group" twice. (See the link from You Tube where they performed on the Tonight Show with host Jay Leno.) Both times that I saw "Blue Man Group" I was an usher at the theater so I didn't have to pay to see them.

The first time I saw "Blue Man Group" I was with my brother Scott and his wife Leslie and Leslie's sister Pat. We drove up to Braintree, Mass., parked the car at the "T" station, and took the public transportation into the city. It was a Sunday and we ate at a nearby "Brew Pub" restaurant before we reported for duty at the theater. We were instructed to wear black for the usher assignment. It was fun to be there ahead of the show as we had a chance to hear the band perform and practice. The band was in the upper right hand corner of the theater next to the stage. All the band members had day glow paint on their faces. The band featured a loud driving sound of drums and guitars as they practiced to accompany the "Blue Man".

The Charles Playhouse was decorated with large plastic tubes throughout the theater with some of the tubes winding their way between the audience seats. Scott and I were told to go back stage and "tube talk". We had to say original things like "Helllloooo", "Anybody there?", "How are you?". Some people did respond from the tubes by their chairs which was kind of funny as it was like we were playing "telephone". Leslie and Pat were ushers that night.

After everyone was seated, we found some empty seats in the back corner and waited for the show to start. I noticed a couple of seats in the center section of the theater on the aisle that were still empty. I said to Leslie, "Hey Leslie look at those empty seats we should go and sit there." So, Leslie and I moved to these seats as they had a better view. Little did we know that these seats were empty for a reason. As part of the beginning of the show they deliberately hold back the people who bought these seats and then make a big announcement that these two people were late and shine a spotlight on them as they are finally allowed to take their seats. Leslie and I didn't know this and someone from the theater staff came and told us about this so we had to go back to our other seats.

Being a drummer from my high school days I appreciated all the drumming involved with the "Blue Man Group" production. "Blue Man Group" started in New York City and then expanded to Boston, Las Vegas, Chicago and Orlando. You have perhaps seen the "Blue Man Group" commercials on television as they promote the Intel pentium computer chips. For a group that doesn't say a word, the 'Blue Men" are very expressive and entertaining.

You should see this show if you have a chance. The end is quite wild with enough toilet paper used to take care or a herd of dinosaurs with diarrhea as the audience participates to fill the theater. After the show we all helped clean up the theater and fill mass quantities of garbage bags. We had fun wearing black and seeing "Blue" (Man Group).