Blue Man Group Brings Weird to Orange County

Blue Man Group beats on drums as paint explodes from the surface. Photo by Joshua Sudock, OC Register.


The epitome of eccentricity, avant-garde performance group Blue Man Group astounds audiences throughout the world in places as sultry as Las Vegas to as exotic as Berlin. How this weird trio found themselves in the pristine Segerstrom theater in Costa Mesa is anyone’s guess.

The only way to really describe their antics is watching children at play. The trio brings everyday, ordinary objects (drums, paint, marshmallows and even cereal) to the stage and with them creates a playground teeming with imaginative instruments, art displays and other inventions. There isn’t any rhyme or reason nor point or plot to the show and some may find that frustrating and almost bewildering. The only way to enjoy a Blue Man show is to take it in its stride; take it for what it is.

Although the performance is classified as theater, it is more an over-the-top art show above all else. At its heart, a Blue Man Group show is performance art, no more and no less. They come to make a statement, although what that statement is remains unclear but at least they made a big deal out of it, colors, special effects and all. Known more for their whimsical antics than for any talent in particular, the group made use of the audience and the stage, parading around in their brilliantly blue nonsense.

Blue Man Group is all about having fun, drawing fans and newcomers alike into their strange little world, sometimes even onto the stage to participate in their games. Their uniformity and their solemn expressions only enhance the comedic aspects of their performance. At one point, they brought one audience member on stage and lined her up with themselves at a table, placing a Twinkie on each of their plates. What ensued was a hilarious act of the three straight-faced performers grappling with their fluffy Twinkies, attempting to eat them simultaneously and all three glancing over at the audience participant, expecting her to follow suit and shaking their heads when she couldn’t keep up.

A glimpse of the finale. Photograph from Broadway.com


Spoilers withheld, the finale was undeniably spectacular. Loud upbeat music enveloped the audience as the three men splashed paint across the stage, beat drums and pipes to accompany the music and created a happening party right in the theater. Brightly lit lanterns gently descended into the audience, glowing and changing colors as they bounced throughout the crowd. Three large plasma screens bedecked in iPhone attire sparkled and exploded with designs as dancers dressed in neon-lit morph suits moved around them. Confetti floated gaily among the chaos.

What is so entertaining about three blue men spitting paint out of their mouths and banging on empty pipes to make melodies like “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga come to life? It’s hard to pinpoint what makes the show so great. Well-timed physical comedy, special lighting effects or just an innovative way of looking at things? There is no answer, but whatever it is they do, it works. The audience was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen next.

It is the Blue Man Group after all. What else are you to expect besides the unexpected?

The Mockingbird Still Sings

Atticus reluctantly demonstrates his showmanship in front of the town.

It can’t be easy for a Southern California college student to play Scout Finch, a child living in the racial turmoil of Alabama in the 1930s, yet freshman Julie Ploehn succeeds with flying colors. In fact, the entirety of the cast was able to create believable characters with Southern twangs, not a hint of the collegiate vibe to be found.

Biola University’s To Kill A Mockingbird, directed by associate theater professor Forrest Robinson is an intense drama performed with passion and well-timed flow. The actors truly made the play enjoyable. The three main characters—Scout (Phlehn), Dill (Atticus Shires) and Jem (Cris Cockrell)—are young children and the college freshmen created childlike personas with seeming ease. They were not childish, but rather captured the heart of a child in their facial expressions, the way they moved around the stage and the way in which their dialogue was spoken, all while using very believable Southern accents. “I tell my students the technique of developing the characters… I like them to discover [the characters] on their own,” Robinson said. “I’m trying to lead them where I would like them to go.”

The entire play takes place on one set: three houses, a tire swing and a fence. In a small black box setting, it was easier to focus on the storyline and the actors without being distracted by stagehands moving sets back and forth. It also made the flow of the play move with near perfection. With the exception of intermission there were no breaks in between scenes. Each segment flowed right into the next as naturally as if one was reading the book, demanding the viewer’s attention with every line. Robinson did an excellent job of appropriately mixing comical relief in with an otherwise extremely intense show.

Jem and Scout speculate on a mysterious neighbor.

The entire play was carried out with professional ease. Sound effects, acting, lighting and set design created a world the audience was drawn into. Watching Atticus Finch fight for the right of a condemned black man in the courthouse left palpable suspense in the air. The chemistry of the lead characters sparked interchangeably with tension and loyalty. However, the performance was not without flaws. Some of the scenes had an awkward effect on the audience; lines that weren’t meant to be funny had the audience tittering. A couple of the minor characters stumbled over lines, but equally noticeable is the fact that the leads remained in character the entire time.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” is a literary classic, required reading in high school and made into several film adaptations. Watching the plot play out on stage made the book come to life again, thanks to believable acting under the leadership of Robinson.

To Kill A Mockingbird is playing at Biola University’s Theater 21 from Oct 27-Nov 12.

Photographs by Heather Tanji

Review of A Review: "Just Can’t Say Goodbye to Gotham by Claudia La Rocco"

Claudia La Rocco’s review of “The Love Letter You’ve Been Meaning To Write To New York” summarizes her opinion of the performance within the first three sentences of the article. Having spent the past four days reading scientific literature that takes at least five paragraphs to summarize a point, it was refreshing to read a piece so concise.

The first paragraph summarizes the quality of the show, the second is a brief description of what the show is about, or rather what makes the show unique. The play takes place outside the theater, while the audience sits inside the building watching the performance take place, literally, on the streets of New York. I understand a review needs to be about evaluation and analysis but given the set-up of the show, La Rocco could have used a bit more description in her article.

After her initial analysis at the beginning of the review, La Rocco fails to explain why she wrote what she did. She didn’t say why actors seemed “amateur” and failed to give examples of how the script was “hackneyed,” leaving her audience of art patrons feeling a bit vague on what made the show bad or if it was even bad at all.

Despite the lack of clarity in her statements, La Rocco’s voice is easy to read, mixing colorful descriptions with short and concise sentences. A little more insight would have been helpful but overall the review was well written. She made certain scenes come alive to the reader. The descriptions she gave sparked interest but the evaluation aspect was lacking detail.

In comparison to other theater reviews, such as New York Times writer Andrew Dinwiddle’s take on “Get Mad At Sin!” her details fall short. Dinwiddle writes a thorough analysis, giving just enough background and description before diving into his analysis of the actors and the director. That being said, La Rocco’s article is more alive than other articles I read. For example, Jason Zinoman’s review of “The Bilbao Effect” lacked some of the personality La Rocco has to offer. His voice isn’t as distinct and some of his wording seems to be passive. He doesn’t stand out as much as La Rocco did to me.

It is also important to note that La Rocco is a dance critic. Scripted theater isn’t what she reviews on a weekly basis. Many of her reviews are of tap shows, ballet numbers or contemporary dance. Her writing is consistent there too. Her style is personable, her thoughts well articulated and she explains herself better. While I didn’t enjoy her review of “The Love Letter I’ve Been Meaning To Write To New York,” I thoroughly enjoyed many of her dance reviews.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/theater/reviews/jonathan-solaris-love-letter-on-a-sidewalk-stage-review.html?ref=theater

To Kill A Mockingbird

I created a podcast interviewing stage manager (and Biola alum!) Tracy McDaniel on Biola's fall production of "To Kill A Mockingbird." Check it out to learn more about why they chose this particular play and where they are on their production process!