Why I Passed on Blue Man Group at Kemper Arena

Many, many moons ago, when I was just a whipper-snapper I was invited to a weekend esthetics workshop at NYU. The workshop was Friday and Saturday and each evening our hosts had planned a special night out on the town in Manhattan.

The first night we attended an art gallery opening in the Village and then had dinner with a group of cosmetic dentists, plastic surgeons, fashion photographers and models somewhere in Soho. The highlight of the night for me was when it came time to leave; I had to hail a cab back to the hotel. I had taken a cab before, but I had always called for one or caught them at the hotel. But just to step into the street, raise your hand and have a cabbie stop, felt very much like being in a movie.

The next evening we attended an unusual show called Blue Man Group. A few years before, they had moved out of the experimental stage and into a small downstairs theater in the East Village. They had been playing to full houses every night.

I remember being entranced and feeling very avant-garde. The theater was small and the show was very audience interactive. It was an experience I will always remember vividly.

So, it was with interest that I read in the internet version of the Kansas City Star Preview Extra that Blue Man Group was coming to Kemper Arena March 31st. My first thought was how, after all these years, could they still perform with the energy I saw that night in New York? Second was how such an intimate, personal interactive show could be produced in a big barn like Kemper?

I followed the link to the Blue Man website and was surprised to find that Blue Man is now a Company, almost like a franchise. There are over forty bluemen and they play through out the world. They have altered the show to be a spectacular so they can play in large arenas. The Kansas City show was a rock concert, part of their How To Be A Megastar 2.0 Tour.

At that point I decided I would take a pass on Blue Man Group (2007 version). Don’t get me wrong I’m sure they have a fascinating show. But I think I will just keep my memory of a unique experience I had in a basement theater somewhere in New York City too many years ago.