Blues Brothers

When it moves to Monte Carlo Resort and Casino on Oct. 10, the ever-evolving multimedia entertainment phenomenon that is Blue Man Group will offer audiences a dramatically enhanced version of its already jaw-dropping Las Vegas production.

For visitors who’ve never witnessed Blue Man in Vegas, this latest and most elaborate incarnation is all the more reason to take the plunge. For those who caught the production at the Venetian (or at the Luxor before that), the updated show merits another look.

“We’ve come up with a lot of new material and we think that Monte Carlo is the right place to put it,” said Chris Wink, who co-founded Blue Man Group with Phil Stanton and Matt Goldman in New York City in 1987. “We feel like we can really have fun in this venue.”

Blue Man made its Vegas theatrical debut at the Luxor in 2000, moving on to the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in 2005. Its revamped Vegas production will be unveiled at the 1,294-seat Monte Carlo Theater seven years to the day after its Venetian debut.

“We just knew that [Monte Carlo] would be really willing to take risks and be cooperative with us and collaborate,” Stanton said.

The new show will, as ever, star a trio of silent performers in blue makeup and bald caps, equal parts mystical heroes and wide-eyed clowns. Accompanied by an electrifying live band, the Blue Men explore art, technology and percussion with a trademark blend of comedy and wonderment.

“We started doing this originally to try to take all of our interests and see if we could put them in one basket,” Stanton explained.

At the core of the show are the enigmatic Blue Men, who come into our world and explore facets of everyday life. The show has been modified over the years to reflect developments in society and technology. At Monte Carlo, it will make a huge leap forward.

“One of the things that we really tried to do with this incarnation … is to dive into technology,” Wink explained. “We’ve been learning a lot in the last decade about different elements, [like] ways to use LEDs, and we’re really going to put them to use here.”

On stage, the Monte Carlo production will combine signature Blue Man pieces (including ultra-vivid “paint drumming” and marshmallow mouth-catching) with new characters and dynamic instruments. Robotics will feature prominently, as will plays on contemporary mobile computing technologies. But Blue Man Group’s fascination with industrial imagery and percussion will remain.

“There are elements that are truly kind of timeless and tribal and really visceral, and they serve to be a nice juxtaposition to all of the technology,” Stanton said.

Perhaps the most intriguing element of the Monte Carlo production is a segment during which the entire theater is transformed in order to mimic the inside of a human brain, with Blue Men “playing” this neuro landscape like a giant drum.

“We’ve always wanted to create a mind-blowing experience,” Wink said. “So we decided to take the metaphor kind of literally and blow a mind with the percussive power of the Blue Man.”

—Paul Rogers, Custom Publishing Writer