Pedestrian “Blue Man Group” at the Bushnell over-rated

HARTFORD — It’s a blue, blue world at the “Blue Man Group,” an Everyman show that is part vaudeville, part rock show, and part mime act, at the William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center.
The performance, which has evolved since it started in New York in 1991, attracts many who have seen it before and come to expect audience participation, drums — lots of drums, and plenty of splashes of florescent paint that spill into the audience. Audience members in the front rows were given large plastic garbage bags with hoodies to don, so they clearly knew and looked forward to what they were in for.
There is no plot to the show, just one long pedestrian entertainment, with lots of loud booming drum sounds and electronic, sometimes ear-ringing rock music.
Some of the acts were less entertaining than others. The bit about the Capt’n Crunch cereal seemed to go on forever and wasn’t funny, except in a juvenile “how much food can one person stuff in their mouth” kind of way.
Another bit with spitting paint balls to make a pop art painting and stuffing mouths full of something kind of gross went on for quite a while too, and is not for the squeamish. Yes, I had to look away.
There were a lot of bits that included narration, such as one about modern electronics called the “Gi-Pad” that was “gi-normous,” get it?, and lots of texting for the audience to read — making me feel this latest “Blue Man” evolution was geared towards youthful texters and tweeters.
Although there were numerous Blue Men listed in the credits, there were only three of them on the stage, which leads me to believe that they must trade off on different nights.
The three silent blue dudes went into the audience for what seemed like an over-long time, finally selecting a gal who gamely went with them onto the stage and did a little bit with Twinkies, that inedible treat, that turned very gross once again. This time gunk oozed out of their chests onto the table, which they then proceeded to eat. Ick.
At other times they poured florescent liquid onto the lighted drums and splashed way, reminiscent of the comedian Gallagher smashing watermelons — More of a time-worn novelty than comedy.
Another audience member they pulled to the stage was the easy-going Bob Maxon, meteorologist for WVIT-TV 30. He was used as a human paintbrush, which we were prepped for with a video short.
The drumming music the three made with variations of PVC piping was really lovely to hear, and they did it a number of times, to fine effect.
The finale was group participation on a large level that was sufficiently diverting and colorful.
This is a family-friendly event, with no profanity or violence.
Personally, as an audience member, I don’t like to be told what to do, but others didn’t appear to mind at all when we were instructed to yell really loud, wave our hands, get up and “shake your booty,” and then applaud for an encore. If I want an encore I will clap for one without prompting, thank you very much.
I believe I was in the minority with these gripes, however, because everyone around me looked like they were having a blast.

BLUE MAN GROUP

"Blue Man Group" at the Bushnell

1 star

Theater: The William H. Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell Memorial Center
Location: 166 Capitol Ave. Hartford
Production: Created, written, and directed by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, and Chris Wink. Directed by Marcus Miller and Blue Man Group. Artistic and musical collaborators Chris Dyas, Larry Heinemann, Ian Pai, Todd Perlmutter, and Jeff Turlik. Production and lighting design by Joel Moritz. Costume design by Chase Tyler. Sound design by Matt Koenig. Music director Byron Estep.
Running time: under two hours with no intermission
Show Times: Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinee performances Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., through Sunday Oct. 31.
Tickets: $17 to $80. For more information, visit their website at www.bushnell.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Kalen Allmandinger … Blue Man
Josh Elrod … Blue Man
General Fermon Judd … Blue Man
Mark Frankel … Blue Man
Kirk Massey … Blue Man
Peter Mustante … Blue Man
Michael Rahhal … Blue Man