ORLANDO — The updated, re-imagined Blue Man Group show at Universal Studios Orlando delivers on the promise of its new advertising slogan — “Now More Wow” — in spades, if a sneak preview for media and a few hundred fans on Thursday is any indication.
The Orlando show, in residence at the Sharp Aquos Theatre on Universal CityWalk for nearly five years, has been updated to reflect changes in technology and pop culture since its 2007 debut. The updated show begins Feb. 24.
Preview attendees got a sampling of several new and updated scenes in the one-hour, 45-minute production.
Most of the new performances concern “today’s new technological layer, such cell phones, smartphones and touchpads,” according to Blue Man Group co-founder Phil Stanton.
“We’ve always put changes in and updated every two to three years, but now really we’ve come to understand — in a way we hadn’t before — that a show has to change to both stay the same and continue to be relevant,” Stanton said prior to the sneak preview. “It’s a challenge in that it’s hard to incorporate changes into a stage show, and it costs a lot of money, [but] when things that affect our daily lives change so rapidly, it’s like the material is handed to you anyway.
“Broadway-style shows like ‘Wicked’ don’t change, and I’m not saying they should, but we’re unique in that we have to change in order to tell the same story and provide the same experience.”
For example, one new scene lampoons the ubiquity of smartphones and tablet computers. The Blue Men comically interact with enormous “GiPads” (as in gigantic iPads).
When not clicking on links to clever and amusing mock websites and YouTube-style clips, the three actors dart behind, in front of and, seemingly, within their GiPads, blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds.
In another updated scene, the Blue Men play their usual snippet of classical music on plastic tubing, but now they segue into pop hit “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. Two of the performers don elaborate, Gaga-esque headgear, to the dismay of the third Blue Man and delight of the audience.
The show finale, which has always gotten audiences on their feet, has also been tweaked and taken up several notches in terms of energy and inventiveness — all to a pulsating new dance-music score.
Most preview attendees, including not a few journalists, jumped up to join in.
Other, less technology-focused portions of the show — including audience favorites such as “Paint Drumming” and “Gum Balls/Marshmallows” — remain unchanged in the new production, according to Stanton.
“Those really tactile, kind of primal experiences are timeless and people love to see them over and over again,” he said. “We never feel like we master them anyway, so we keep getting better and better.”
Those classic scenes are common to most Blue Man Group productions, including those in New York, Las Vegas, Berlin — and even at sea aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic — but the Orlando show does differ slightly in some ways.
“The Blue Men here do kind of like to ‘ride the rollercoaster,’ as it were, so we do have some material specific to the theme park,” said Stanton. “But I don’t know that audiences here come in expecting something different, and it’s not that there are more kids in the audience than anywhere else.”
Stanton noted that sitting down and sharing an entertainment experience like the Blue Man Group is a great way for families to take a break from their marathon run around Orlando theme parks. Daily performances are usually sold out or at least 90% full, he said.
And for Blue Man Group creators and performers, operating in Orlando is a pleasure and bonus in that “it’s a way of touring without moving around,” Stanton added. “Here, it’s the audience that keeps moving, coming to us.”
For more information, show times and ticket prices for the enhanced Blue Man Group show at Universal Orlando, visit www.universalorlando.com and www.blueman.com.
Follow Kenneth Kiesnoski on Twitter @kktravelweekly.