Blue Man Group, a NYC staple, is leaving the city after decades
New York and Chicago can count on a Blue Christmas this year − but after that, the color may soon run out.
The Blue Man Group − an entertainment spectacle involving body paint and bald men − announced on Friday that it would end residencies in New York and Chicago. Managing Director Jack Kenn said in a pair of press releases that the final shows will be Feb. 2 in New York and Jan. 5 in Chicago.
"Blue Man Group is unlike anything else in the world and is undeniably one of the most recognized and successful entertainment productions because of the hardworking cast, crew and creative team. It was because of them that these shows captured millions of hearts night after night, and we give our utmost thanks," Kenn said in the release.
The announcement marks the end of an era for the troupe, which first launched at the Astor Place Theater in Manhattan in 1991. For over 30 years, the wide-eyed, zipped-lip men have offered tourists and New York natives alike the opportunity to take in a quirky off-Broadway production.
Equal parts acrobatics and slapstick comedy, the group's website describes the show as, "euphoric celebrations of human connection through art, music, comedy and non-verbal communication."
In a category all its own, the show's staying power may be attributed in part to its genre-defiance. Not a musical but not a circus, the Blue Men solve problems and poke fun at one another onstage, ever-tactile but also constantly surprised by their own bodies and the world around them.
Dipped in a striking shade of cobalt, they appear in groups of three, made up of a rotating cast of characters (though you might never notice).
Aimed to be family-friendly, performances are "continually injected with new music, fresh stories, custom instruments and sensory-stimulating graphics," the group says.
The shutterings in New York and Chicago come as live theater suffers across the board. An arm of showbiz that cannot be enjoyed from the couch, stage productions faced a crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic and still have not entirely bounced back. Streaming also may be cutting into live theater's sales as some viewers have grown accustomed to, and now prefer, enjoying entertainment at home.
Blue Man Group performances will still be offered in Las Vegas; Orlando, Florida; Boston; and Berlin.