Jacqueline_Monahan_-_About_The_Town_-_August_04

August 04, 2008
Blue Man Group at the Venetian Won’t Leave You Feeling That Way
Trevi Italian Restaurant Gets all Dolled Up For Debut of Jason Wu’s AvantGuards

by Jacqueline Monahan
jaxn8r@msn.com

Blue Man Group at the Venetian Won’t Leave You Feeling That Way

I’m stealing from myself here, quoting an excerpt from the article, “My Las Vegas Top Five Attractions for 2007” from the January 1, 2008 edition of Las Vegas Round the Clock:

“Blue Man Group - These mute, azure-hued musicians have a psychologically satisfying show featuring surprisingly predictable human behavior, intense glares, music, percussion, color and humor. You’ll appreciate a Twinkie before the night’s over. The dedicated Blue Man Theatre houses the impressive set with its surreal props. There’s no spoken word, but some written witticisms…. Everyone …will have a visually stunning, sometimes bewildering good time. The neck-crushing finale of audience-passed paper streamers (pounds of it on your head) doesn’t hurt either. Well, it does, but it’s so much fun to explain the injury the next day.”

What was inventive fun then is even more exciting now. Like a fine wine, Blue Man Group (BMG) just keeps getting better the longer it’s around. What other show offers works of art made by spitting onto a spinning poster board or covering an innocent volunteer in paint for a body print on canvas?

This cobalt (make that co-bald) trio is silent but generates tremendous word of mouth through clever antics involving improv and precision. One of the three invariably gets left behind in the rapid-fire succession of events and is met with quizzical glances from the other two. When the wide-eyed, blue gaze is directed at the audience, a collective laugh erupts; we all understand.

A Blue Man Group member can be either a man or a woman and must have an athletic build, drumming skills, the ability to express emotions and communicate nonverbally. All members must be between 5’10” and 6’1” tall. Tom Cruise and Eva Longoria wouldn’t make it.

BMG counts on and plays with behavioral expectations and notions of conformity. Psychologists will have a field day deconstructing these performance pieces and comic sketches. The interactive component alone illustrates crowd dynamics, a playful version of oft maligned mob mentality. Here, everyone wants to identify with the trip they’re being taken on and is a most willing participant.

Even waiting for the show to begin is entertaining. Scrolling signs identify VIP members of the audience and invite interaction between them and the crowd. Journalists Jerry Fink and Judy Thorburn were two such VIP “victims”, with Fink being singled out for having mapped out the human genome and Thorburn cited for having a headache. In both cases the audience was urged to loudly greet or wish them well. Other VIP’s included an absolutely average guy and an alleged 2006 Winter Olympic Curling Gold Medalist named Heather. Those present in the 1,760-seat theatre, nearly full, were primed in this way for the loud, colorful mind trip they were about to experience.

Audience reaction controls the “action” of the show. Ecstatic, euphoric audiences get a different performance than more quiet groups. The trio, skilled in improv, tailors each show for the personality of the crowd. Some segments, such as Neon Desert, and Rods & Cones take place in much the same fashion night after night. Others, particularly The Feast rarely unfolds the same way twice, as it brings a randomly selected audience member up on stage and accommodates all of their possible actions with improvisational techniques and props. The one constant here is a propensity to vomit out of one’s chest to a large chorus of disgusted eeewwwwww’s from the incredulous onlookers. I’ll say no more.

The first five or so rows in the theatre are called The Poncho Section (remember comedian Gallagher and his sledge-hammered watermelons)? An opening segment has the trio drumming swiftly and loudly while discovering what happens when bright neon paint is added to the action. The Poncho Section knows right away, as its members can expect a rainstorm of pink, yellow and blue paint to descend upon their plastic, hooded garments. You do not wear Armani and sit close to these guys.

BMG believes in playing with their food. Captain Crunch, Jell-O, and Twinkies all figure prominently. They toss colored balls into each others’ mouths, play rhythmic tunes on PVC piping, and teach the audience how to become a rock star with choreographed moves such as the head bob and the one-armed fist pump. At several points during the show, a deep voice narrates information which is illustrated by graphics; two topics are modern plumbing and how the eye fools itself into a phenomenon known as persistence of vision. Skeletal bronze figures on each side of the stage (surrounding liquid-filled tornado tubes) suddenly spin and undulate into a macabre dance as they seem to come alive.

A rock band accompanies the BMG, utilizing no less than four drum sets. Housed in suspended black mesh cages above the stage, the neon-colored costumes and face masks give off an alien flavor, although the music is definitely “head bangin’.” Invariably, someone in the audience will yell out a request (tonight it was Skynyrd’s classic, Freebird) and the band will oblige with a few bars.

Other BMG occurrences include latecomers being pointed out and captured on video as they sheepishly make their way to their seats; three large poster boards of information are simultaneously pointed toward the audience with instructions to read only one, when the natural human inclination is to try to read them all. Several boards caution against this, but laughter reveals the many failed attempts. Seems we are used to information overload.

The trio invade the audience through seat tops and aisles to select one man and one woman for inclusion in eating and painting activities. Those who raise their hands or try to point out others will be disappointed. BMG selects their assistants solely through meaningful glances and consensus. Later, a pair of electric hand-held cones wields the power to make people change seats or stand up, even guiding a jet onto the stage.

You still have the video head dance to look forward to and the controlled swirl of the ceiling tubes. Then the paper will be released and you’ll happily fight your way out of a cocoon as the white wad makes its way to the front as the band plays on. Curious? Great, because these things just can’t be explained, they have to be experienced. Then you’ll be able to assign a color to the good time you had, and it will be positively, absolutely, unmistakably, blue.

For further Information:

The Venetian Box Office
The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino
3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
(702) 414-9000
1-800-BLUEMAN
http://www.blueman.com

Trevi Italian Restaurant Gets all Dolled Up For Debut of Jason Wu’s AvantGuards

On Saturday, August 2, New York-based fashion designer Jason Wu, 25, unveiled his new line of modern fashion dolls, the AvantGuards at an event hosted by Trevi Italian Restaurant in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. The creative director, fashion designer and partner for Integrity Toys, Inc. introduced the 16-inch “Fashion Metamorphs”, complete with wigs, articulated bodies (even fingers) and haute couture ensembles to rival those found on the runways of Milan.

Photo credit: Stephen Thorburn

Wu himself began his career in fashion design when he was just 14. His debut collection of women’s fashion in 2006 garnered him the reputation as one of the premier New York-based young fashion designers and his clothing is available at a variety of high-end establishments such as Holt Renfrew, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Ultimo. Now he’s brought that style and panache into the doll world.

The invitation-only reception took place on Trevi’s elegant mezzanine level, which held a glamorous display of the trio under targeted spotlight: LiveWire, an African American beauty in a gold dress sparkling enough to make even Liberace envious, Lush, a regal blonde wrapped in a silky tunic-dress and Eclectic, a dramatic, goth-like goddess with ‘70’s “Cher-hair”.