US holiday 2007: Blue Man Group
This is part of a series of blog entries that I'm gradually putting together about the holiday we just finished in Florida.
Microsoft's Tech-Ed convention was ending on Friday 8th June and the plan was to stay in Florida for another week, filling ourselves up on theme park goodness.
So what better way to start the holiday than to see the Blue Man Group in their new theatre at Universal Studios?
For the regular readers of this blog, you'll know that this isn't the first time that we've seen the Blue Men! Let's see now ... Las Vegas, London, New York, Boston and now Orlando!
Some people might think us mad to keep on seeing the same group but, for those who know the BMG, you'll understand that it isn't the same performance and, even if it was, the energy of that performance is just so WOW! that it is a great way to kick off the holiday :).
The BMG's theatre used to be the Nickleodean location at Universal Studios. As you can see from the top photo, though, they've done a great job of theming the building! The inside is just fantastic - a single layer of seats, rising up as you go more towards the back of the theatre. The second photo shows the area that you walk through to get to the theatre, while the one below that is little ol' me standing in front of one of their promotional posters, near the Universal globe.
This was the second official day of running for the show and, on the whole, it was a fantastic experience. There were a few glitches but nothing big enough to spoil the evening. I'd booked early enough to get poncho seats (row DD) so we had a great view of the stage. The poncho seats are the first few rows where you get given clear plastic ponchos to wear, just in case anything comes your way. I rather cruelly enjoyed watching some of the BMG newbies cringe in anticipation of something coming when it wasn't going to!
There were, for those who see the show regularly, a few new pieces. The "heads in TV sets" sequence had been changed from previous shows. The right-hand BMG changes to Floppie the clown and a dog's head, for a start, and it was nice to see this being slightly different. Another sequence that I noticed was different was the animation skit where the BMG came out on stage with glowing suits (a bit like the outfit worn for I Feel Love) with their own sticks.
They had also added a brand new skit (or new to me, anyway) where they got three people out of the audience and attached bits to their heads. They then proceed to "play" the volunteers as if they were causing them pain and the pain was audible to everyone. Fantastic skit - hilarious even if I haven't described it very well!
Speaking of "I Feel Love", they've made that the last piece, rather than Last Train to Trancentral. A bit different, but it works OK.
All in all, a great way to start the holiday, and a great location for them to be in. I hope that this is very successful for them.
