Blue Man Group ends exhilarating season today

The worldwide phenomenon known as Blue Man Group, in partnership with the Philippines’ #1 mobile brand Globe Telecom, has successfully brought their comedy, theatre, rock concert and dance party into our shores, much to the delight of Manila audiences, Blue Man Group opened on Thursday last week, Sept. 14, to a full house, rave reviews and standing ovations, and the show continued to astound Filipinos night after night since then.

Now the Blue Man Group ends their exhilarating Manila season this Sunday, September 25. Tickets are still on sale for the final shows.

Comprised of three bald and blue performers, Blue Man Group is well-known for their unique brand of techno color entertainment. Blue Man Group 2016 World Tour has already made its stops in Singapore, Macau, and finally they’ve made an indelible blue mark on Manila.

The Blue Man name was chosen to evoke the word Human and is all about the colorful celebration of life.

Phil Stanton, co-founder of Blue Man Group, recalls how it all started: “We were three very close friends interested in finding our own voice through performance while exploring our various interests such as music, comedy, performance and fine art, as well as pop culture”. That was 25 years ago.

“We were living in a time of emerging digital technologies that had the potential to greatly bring people around the world closer, but also had the potential to alienate, and it seemed to beg the question: “What is essentially human?” Though we were not necessarily conscious of it at the time, we landed on three main areas: that people have the need to explore their own individual creativity through life; they need to continue to be curious; and that they need to feel part of a community,” he shares.

The performance that centered on the curious, innocent, Blue Man character turned out to be a groundbreaking performance that left audiences awed.  To date, they’ve played to over 35 million people across more than 20 countries and even have permanent shows in Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, Boston, Chicago and Berlin.

Other interesting numbers to digest – during one week of performances the Blue Man relies on 32 pounds of Jell-O, eight boxes of Cap’n Crunch cereal, 96 pieces of white chocolate Toblerone, 240 marshmallows and 40 boxes of Twinkie Lights (don’t worry — each Twinkie has just 130 calories!).

Whether eaten or used in the show, that is for you to find out at the Blue Man Group 2016 World Tour now on in Manila until September 25.

The tour also relies on 25 drum heads, 14 cymbals, 24 drumsticks, 50 gallons of paint, 27 bald caps, and 9 cakes of proprietary ‘Blue Man Blue’ coloured makeup specially made for the trio.

The creative collective has become part of the pop culture zeitgeist with a “Megastar World Tour”, a rock concert parody hitting 100 US cities and ten countries, and two million fans. The group boasts five music albums, collaborations on film scores and performances with prestigious orchestras as well.

Despite the absence of spoken dialogue, the Blue Man Group keeps audiences mesmerized during its show with a fully immersive audio-visual experience complete with electrifying music, state-of-the-art technology, an enthralling live band and its signature interactive, audience experiences.

When asked what he considers the group’s best show yet, Stanton says: “Our best show is the one audiences will see right here in Manila. We are continually honing our brand of stagecraft to finding the best expression of that original voice. The show they will see incorporates all we have learned, and represents our most up-to-date show in terms of the character’s unique fresh take on the way we all live today,” he enthuses.

It is brought to Manila by Blue Man Productions Ltd, Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Ltd and Concertus Manila. In partnership with the Philippines’ #1 mobile brand Globe Telecom. Special thanks to Mind Museum.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Out of rage and love–a rousing ‘American Idiot’

You don’t have to buy a ticket to see 9 Works Theatrical’s production of the jukebox musical “American Idiot,” now playing at the newly erected Bonifacio High Street Amphitheater until July 10.

Pay a couple thousand pesos and you get a seat in the covered “amphitheater” (really a makeshift stage like the ones built for outdoor raves and concerts). Otherwise, you can easily claim your spot beyond the perimeter railing and watch for free, weather permitting.

“Accidental theater” is what the producers are supposedly aiming for, a chance for those who can’t afford a ticket to still be able to experience this form of live entertainment. It’s an idea that may not sit comfortably with some, but you have to give it to the producers for not giving a (expletive) about what highbrow, elitist
theater may have to say.

Sensory overload

Still, here’s some sage advice: Buy a ticket. It’s not enough to just “see” this “American Idiot”; one must “experience” it.

This is what it truly looks and feels like to have rock music make its way onstage and just smash all the rules of traditional theater to smithereens: dazzling neon lights, abstract video projections, the sound blaring overhead, bodies running up and down and back and forth a skeletal set. At some point, you find yourself at a loss as to where to look or what to listen to.

This is theater as sensory overload, a consummate marriage of topnotch production values—which includes Martin Esteva’s lights, Mio Infante’s scenography and GA Fallarme’s projections—and Robbie Guevara’s perceptive directorial choices. After all, one does not simply dive into the heart of a punk-rock musical without a brain and an eye for the proper aesthetic.

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times, in his review of the musical’s Broadway premiere back in 2010, called “American Idiot” “a true rock opera.” It’s not entirely clear what he meant by that phrase, but Guevara’s production, on account of its scope of feeling and thrilling musicality alone, sure feels like an opera.

 Arresting


There’s not much in the way of a story here—three disillusioned suburban American youths dealing with sex, drugs, impending adulthood and Bush Jr.’s warmongering. But my, how astutely it captures the swirling confusion and electric charge that defines this slice of a young man’s life.

It’s the need to satisfy one’s desires and establish one’s place in society that every production of “American Idiot” needs to illustrate to its viewers, and which this one fleshes out in more arresting ways than one.

That’s not to say this “American Idiot” is not without its imperfections. But for every Miggy Chavez (of the band Chicosci), who looks and sounds woefully out of place, or Rivermaya’s Jason Fernandez, who sings alluringly but needs to get rid of his one-note speaking style, there’s Basti Artadi, roaring his way through the role of St. Jimmy, a figment of the lead character Johnny’s imagination now made thoroughly corporeal with this roof-blasting interpretation.

If anything, Guevara’s cast, which also includes Yanah Laurel and Nel Gomez in standout supporting turns, powerfully makes the case for “American Idiot,” the Green Day album that makes up the core of the musical’s score, as one of the new millennium’s essential rock albums.


Showstoppers

Under Guevara’s ministrations, plus PJ Rebullida’s hyperkinetic choreography, the likes of “21 Guns” are transformed into genuine showstoppers, while “Holiday,” staged with confetti and balletic rolls of tissue, has become the perfect snapshot of this musical’s wet-and-wild spirit.

“I’m the son of rage and love” goes one lyric early in the show. “I don’t care if you don’t care” goes another, rhythmically repeated.

If only living were that easy, where words and actions exist in a vacuum, and other lives don’t matter. It’s a primal desire of the spirit, one that’s barely spoken of because deemed unacceptable by the norms of society.

It’s also this very desire, this rage and storm of untempered emotions, that pervades this “American Idiot” and make it worth the price of admission.

9 works Theatrical and Globe Telecom’s “American Idiot” runs until July 10. Call 5867105, 8919999 and 0917-5545560.
E-mail the author at vincengyu@yahoo.com or visit him at vincengregorii.blogspot.com.

source:lifestyle.inquirer.net