New Plumbing: Blue Man Group Adds Fresh Material to Tubes

By Ernio Hernandez
April 1, 2004

Blue Man Group is adding material to their current, long-running Off-Broadway production Tubes playing at the downtown Astor Place Theatre.

"As characters, the Blue Men are continuously evolving and growing individuals, who, unlike scripted characters in most theatre pieces, react to the changing world around them," stated co-creator Matt Goldman in a release. Co-founder Chris Wink added "Every so often we give our shows a little upgrade. This time around we’ve added a few new twists and turns to the second half of the show in order to keep ourselves and our audiences on their toes." Phil Stanton, who also co-created the work, reassured "The basic structure of the show stays the same but there are a few sections we like to play with, either because they are meant to be topical or we have something new we want to try out."

The silent blue-skinned trio have proved a viable musical talent since their Off Broadway debut in 1991, having toured to promote their recent second album "The Complex" as well as previous tour engagements as part of the "Area: 2" concert with Moby, David Bowie, Busta Rhymes and other bands.

The success of the tour, the Las Vegas staging and both albums are all contributing factors in the changes being added to the New York production as well as the Boston and Chicago runs.

True Blue fans will be happy to know the first half-hour remains virtually intact. The new additions include a piece on "the state of the rock world, where lip synched performances and rigid choreography" have become popular; a scene involving the irony of communication in an Internet coffee shop; and the replacement of the "Fractals" video with a segment about the history of animation.

The group, which was featured in the 2001 Grammy Awards performance of Moby's "Natural Blues," was Grammy-nominated for their debut album "Audio." The threesome have also appeared in television commercials for Pentium.

Blue Man Group: Tubes plays at the Astor Place Theatre, 434 Lafayette St. Tickets are available through (212) 307-4100.