MANILA, Philippines – The Blue Man Group entered the media event on Tuesday, April 26, in a cloud of music, smoke, and confetti. (READ: Blue Man Group is coming to Manila)

Months ahead of their Manila shows, the group gave the Philippine press a taste of what to expect from their upcoming performances at The Theatre at Solaire from September 14 to 25.

The 3 bald, blue men danced along to music, took selfies with their audience, left blue kisses on the pictures they printed out, and at one point, even fed a woman mashed potatoes.

The Blue Man Group’s shows are known to be a high-energy, interactive performance that incorporates science, comedy, visual effects, and theater.

After the performance, Michael Rahhal, one of the show’s directors and a Blue Man himself, said that it’s not uncommon for the Blue Men to bring audience members up onstage or feed them.

“Because we interact with people from the audience, there’s always new things that happen. It’s incredible, the audience presents us with that opportunity every night,” he said.

Later, in a separate interview, Michael added that this interaction is one of the things he enjoys the most about performing as a Blue Man: “The best thing that happens for us is that the audience, the people who come to see the show, are the ultimate variable. They always bring a different energy, each individual that we invite up – you know we invite members of the audience up onto the stage to interact with us before sending them back a little changed, right, kind of put that love back into the crowd – and so that person always brings a different energy up on stage.”

Minus the makeup

When the press spoke to Michael that day, he was sans blue makeup, but he does perform with the group, and will perform in the Manila shows.

Michael shared that the experience of being in his Blue Man costume – a combination of makeup and prosthetics – can be uncomfortable at first.

“For me, at first, it’s a little claustrophobic, because you’re very closed off, and we also wear earplugs because the show is very loud… when you’re onstage, you know, we have to hear the band and we have to hear each other, so we wear an in-ear monitor,” he explained.

“But after awhile, a short while, it becomes a tool for expression, and you forget that it’s there,” Michael continued. “I totally forget that it’s there. And it becomes a big part of how I experience the character and ulitmately that is not an uncomfortable experience at all, it’s actually quite nice.”

As great as it is being in costume, taking all the makeup off has its perks too. In a separate interview, Michael said, “It’s amazing [being a Blue Man], it’s like being a superhero.”

Explaining further, Michael shared one of his favorite parts of taking his makeup off – nobody knows who he is. “So I’ll do the show, and then I’ll get on the metro to ride home, and I’ll stand next to someone who just saw what I did and is talking about something that I did, and they don’t know that it’s me, so I get to stand there and listen,” he shared, putting his hand on his chin and smiling.

Great for kids, important for adults

The Blue Man Group show is unconventional – not quite a theater show, but not quite a concert either – and the Blue Man character doesn’t speak.

Michael explained that this non-verbal performance is supposed to help audience-members as they interpret the show in their own way.

“I have to come out of my shell as an audience member in the show in order to experience it, because it takes some thought, it takes a little bit of processing and openness to take an experience away from the show. ‘Cos I could sit there with my arms crossed and say like, ‘I don’t get it.’ And that’s just me closing myself off.

“But what we hope for, is that the audience comes in ready to have fun. We hope they come in ready to laugh, ready to experience something new, ready to look at something that maybe they thought they understood but actually have the capacity to see it in a new way,” said Michael.

Michael explained that because it’s easy to lose the sense of childlike wonder in an age where anything you don’t know about can be easily Googled.

“So that childlike sense of wonder, the ability to feel surprised, to see something that you’ve never seen before or try to look at something that you know exists in a new way, that is a very Blue Man concept,” he said.

Later on, when a reporter asked if the show was okay for kids to watch – a blue, unsmiling man with wide, staring eyes can get a little scary – Michael answered that it’s for everyone, young and old.

In fact, kids tend to take to the Blue Man character much quicker than adults do.

“Because children are more attached to that sense of wonder than we are as adults, right?” Michael answered. “As adults you know, you go through life and you get a job and you have responsibilities and we go through all this kind of getting into society kind of process as adults, and you can very easily lose that sense of wonder.

“So for us, we like to say that the show is great for kids, but more important for adults. Becasue we want people to find that sense of wonder through our show, and it happens.”‘

The Blue Man Group is performing at The Theatre at Solaire from September 14 to 25. Tickets are now for sale at ticketworld.com.ph.

Will you be catching Blue Man Group this September? What did you think of the sneak peek of their upcoming performance? Let us know in the comments! – Rappler.com