Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise: Blue Man Group Show is Repetitive

The Peoria Journal Star is reporting this morning that the Blue Man Group show at the Civic Center was good but "strikingly similar to last year."

Umm . . . ya think?

Seriously, there are only so many ways of entertaining an audience with a show based on some guys with shiny electric blue rubber masks on their heads, banging PVC pipes and garbage can lids (or is that Stomp?), launching themselves and other objects around the stage, all set to ear-splitting techno music. Is this really entertaining more than once? And if it is one of those things that you just LOVE (I mean, I do have certain movies or books I watch or read over and over), why would you be shocked if it was similar to the last time you saw it?

2 comments:

My Flock Rocks! said...

We went and saw them last night and although I have never seen them at The Briar Street Theatre, I thought their show was relatively entertaining and certainly not repetitive. I had the opportunity of seeing them during a half time show at the United Center during a NCAA basketball playoff game some years back and the show was completely different. I have seen the complete performance and probably won't feel the need to attend another unless something really catches my attention. Loved the music!

Unknown said...

I've been a huge BMG fan for the last 7 years. Seen the shows over 10 times... ("Oh no, crazy defensive BMG fan," you're thinking.")

...But one of BMG's problems is producing new material. 70% of the material in their theatrical shows are from material that's 15+ years old. The current Megastar Tour is just a re-shaping of their 2003 Complex Tour. As a BMG fan, I'm starting to get a bit fed up with it.

They have the tools to be more creative, but they're mostly focusing on getting the old material out to everybody in the world for that "first time" experience, ignoring trying to satisfy repeat viewers. Not to say I don't love the old material, since I have seen it so much.