blue man guy

Blue Man Founder On Being Bald, Blue

Blue Man Group MegaStar World Tour poster
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

When Matt Goldman first went bald and blue as a Blue Man with his friends Chris Wink and Phil Stanton, he knew there was something special about it. But today's phenomenal success of the Blue Man Group is still a surprise.

``If you make yourself bald and blue, and you think 'oh my God, I'm going to make a living out of this,' I think the first thing they should do is put you in a mental hospital and throw away the key because that would be crazy talk. It would have been impossible to predict any of this. On the other hand, when we got bald and blue for the first time and we knew it was something very special and that until we got it in many places around the world, it would not be complete,'' Goldman told reporters Tuesday, at a hotel in downtown Seoul.

Goldman, now one of the top executives of the Blue Man Group, is in town to oversee the preparations for the ``MegaStar World Tour,'' which opens June 10.



The Blue Man Group started in the late 1980's, when Goldman, Wink and Stanton would meet every Sunday morning with the idea of ``bringing something exciting to the table.''

``Something you wrote, music, a movie ― just bring to the table what's exciting. At the same time, we had the vision of this bald blue character. The two things came together and out of that came the Blue Man Group. … We think that the Blue Man found us, rather than we found the Blue Man,'' he said.

Starting with its street performances, the group's three-minute skits eventually evolved to become a theatrical production shown around the world. Now, the Blue Man Group is also involved in music, TV and film.

Who exactly is this bald, shiny blue character called the Blue Man? ``For me, I feel like the Blue Man in some ways is the purest form of humanity. … The Blue Man has no hairstyle, no skin tone, the features are obscure and irrelevant and no clothing style. The Blue Man is the stripping down of all those things that we do that make us individuals and what's left is the pure humanity,'' Goldman said.

While the Blue Man may look strange at first, Goldman said people quickly realize they can easily relate to the Blue Man and make them say ``that's me.''

The MegaStar World Tour, which follows the character's road to becoming a rock star, is making its Asian debut in Seoul. Goldman already feels some connection with Korean culture, saying his best friend and Blue Man Group drummer Ian Pai has already introduced him to Korean food and culture back in New York.

``I feel that the Korean public has a certain loose, fun loving nature, willing to be a little crazier, which is a perfect mix for the MegaStar show. MegaStar is about the Blue Man playing the role of a megastar, and the audience playing the role of the insane fanatic audience. Neither are those things, so it takes a little bit of the audience willing to suspend their belief to make it work. … We had a feeling that the Korean audience will embrace it in a special way,'' Goldman said.

In the MegaStar show, one of the songs ``Sing Along,'' was originally performed by American rock star Dave Matthews for the Blue Man Group album ``The Complex.'' Goldman laughingly recalled how Matthews admitted he gave up writing music for a year, after seeing the Blue Man Group show. ``He (Matthews) said he asked himself what he's doing with his life, writing music, compared to what the Blue Man Group was doing,'' he said.

Goldman hopes the audience will walk away with feeling that they just experienced something special, after watching the MegaStar show.

``We want to give the audience an experience of euphoria, ecstasy and heightened theatrical experience. Something you can't even put your words to,'' Goldman said.
The show's voice over narration has been translated into Korean language. However, the singing vocals will be in English.

The MegaStar World Tour will run for 16 days from June 10 to 22 at the Sejong Center Main Theater, Gwanghwamun. Tickets range from 50,000 won to 150,000 won. Visit www.blueman2008.co.kr. For English information, call (02) 541-6235 or email info@mastmedia.co.kr.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr