Founded in 1988 by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman, the Blue Man Group is a creative organization of experimental rock and performance art best known for their popular theatrical shows and concerts which combine music, comedy and multimedia.Parque das Nações, Lisbon; on a cold March night, hundreds of expectant faces were ready for the show in Casino Lisboa. Then the interaction with the audience started and remained for a while when suddenly the trio of anonymous unspeaking performers appeared on stage wearing black outfits and painted with blue grease paint. They started with their best known performance with the PVC pipes, the most famous instrument created by them, and then the concert proceeded based on The Rock Concert Instruction Manual. The manual describes in simple steps how to gain fame and fortune by becoming a rock star. What is funny about this is that Blue Men are not normal guys so their process of learning is not ordinary either. They’re creatures approximating a real male human being but they’ve a static appearance and their faces are usually expressionless. However, and I liked their expressions a lot, with their suggestions of curiosity, surprise, wonder etc. sometimes visible on their faces. The Blue Man doesn’t communicate through speech but communicates through intense eye contact and simple gestures.
It was an amazing hour and a half in the company of the Blue Man Group. The performance was mainly a concert, often with percussive instruments, but the way they combined music with comedy and great numbers of multimedia and stuff is the secret to produce a totally unique form of entertainment which put the entire audience yelling, stamping their feet and anxious for more.
Marta Rebelo
