Samantha Callan
Professor Zaretti
LCS 280 FE – Intro to World Music
Ethnographic Paper
1 May 2013

For my ethnographic analysis I chose to study how interactive performers thrive on the personal connections they build with audience members, specifically focusing on the Blue Man Group. Interactive performers go beyond just putting on an average performance through the use of audience connections to develop an entertaining relationship with the crowd. This relationship allows the performers to drive a deeper message of sound interaction. Although the Blue Men are a comical and theatrical musical performance for all ages The Blue Man Group strives to provoke a deeper message to society of increasing personal connections and relationships in our digitally focused world. The utilization of individual engagement, props and the stage use all increase audience connectivity.
The world famous Blue Man Group was founded in 1987 by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton. The Blue Man Group produces concerts that incorporate a theatrical aspect alongside comedy and multimedia. Chris Wink best explains, “We have our roots in the dadaists and the happenings of the '60s, along with mid-century abstract expressionism, jazz, and method acting, all of which reflected a desire for a direct experience unmediated by structure or form”(Wink). All of the performances include a cast of actor-musicians who wear bald caps and blue makeup. The Blue Man Group uses different themes in their performances including, science and technology, information technology, and information pollution. These are all themes which have been predetermined by the group. The Blue Men offer something for all ages, performing to their techno music with drumming in the background and foreground. Many of the scenes performed are very imaginative and shocking, including fake vomit and hurling marshmallows into one another’s mouths, “it’s comic yet appalling” (Horwitz). The Blue Man Group won a 1999 Grammy Award nominee for Audio; they were also the 2011 Off Broadway Alliance Award’s Audience Choice Award for Best Long-Running Show. The group brings their techno music to a whole new level with live drumming, audience participation, comedy and thought provoking ideas. One of the main ideas of the group is communication in order to “nurture human relationships” (Wink). These relationships are dissipating in society today due to increased reliance on technology.
The performance I attended and did my fieldwork at was on March 1st at 7:30pm at the Providence Performing Arts Center. The Blue Man Group was at PPAC for the weekend as part of their tour and was featuring all new content. The theater can hold 3,100 people and at this evenings show the theater was packed. The audience ranged in age from toddler to senior, and the majority of people seemed to be Rhode Island residents. Waiting in line some people were very formally dressed while others were dressed in street clothes. All of which seemed to be acceptable. I attended the performance with my mother and my younger sister- none of us had seen the group before.
The use of individual engagement by the group was the first tactic used to create a sense of unity within the audience. We were seated by the ushers in the first tier of the balcony as everyone proceeded into the theatre. The stage was set up with just risers and electronic signs, as we were seated the signs scrolled through saying “welcome” to the audience. It was very noisy in the theater due to the diverse audience. At this point the general audience was not paying much attention to the stage. We all acted as you see in society today only paying attention to ourselves and what is going on in our little “bubble”. There was also an area in front of the stage where people were clothed in plastic ponchos and arranged in chairs, this was called the splash zone in the seating chart. Compared to a typical performance there was no announcement about the “splash zone,”