Last night I saw Blue Man Group for the 12th time. When they made major changes to the Orlando show last year, I was determined to see it again. Seeing it in Chicago last year was something of a preview, though I also assumed that the smaller venue there would certainly limit what they could do. I was right.
A few months ago, I offered to take my BFF to the show as a graduation gift, though admittedly I had no idea when I would be able to make good on the offer because I had no plans to be visit Orlando. Then we moved. Problem solved. On top of that, Simon has been watching the DVD of the arena tour for the last year, and he's quite the fan. I figured he was more than ready. Then throw in a Florida resident promo... it was time!
Of the 12 shows, this was the 8th theatrical version (the others were the arena show), and this was by far the best, topping the Venetian at its best. I haven't seen the new one at the Monte Carlo.
The intro is almost something of a variation on the arena show, and is a hundred times more visually interesting than the old three-window thing they did for years. They also did a really cool new version of "Rods and Cones," with new backpack instruments that were lit up. I miss the zoetropes, but the net result is an improvement. The finale with "Shake Your Euphemism" is a lot of fun. The pacing of the show in general is the tightest it has ever been, with the only slow part being the Twinkie feast, and even then, it only felt slow because I could see Simon getting bored with it. The last half-hour or so is almost all music, which makes it particularly excellent.
The really special moment for Simon was one I've seen countless times, the "Drumbone" routine. It was pretty early in the show, and as soon as Simon saw them bring out the tubes, I think that's when he made the connection about what he was really seeing. I really want to build those pipes.
Now that we're local to one of these shows, I think we have to limit it to one a year. Mind you, the tickets aren't that expensive for residents, and it's really great that they have kid prices. Oh, and this was the first time since January 2011 that we even set foot at Universal. I suspect we'll be back next year, after the new Potter stuff opens.
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