Features
Blue Man Joins Cirque du Soleil
Codey Allen – Blue Man Group
The move is part of a plan to expand and vary Cirque du Soleil’s entertainment options, the company announced July 6.
“We are extremely excited to welcome the iconic Blue Man Group to our portfolio of shows,” said Daniel Lemarre, company president/CEO. “Their unbridled creativity makes them a perfect cultural fit for Cirque du Soleil.”
Blue Man was founded in 1991 in NYC by three friends with a vision to blend technology, music and comedy in an interactive production. It has since performed in more than 20 countries and been seen by more than 35 million people worldwide.
Co-founder Chris Wink said, “Now, we find ourselves on the brink of our next chapter, and we have big ideas for the future. Only a global creative powerhouse like Cirque du Soleil could help us achieve our vision.”
Blue Man Productions operates resident shows in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and Orlando along with two touring productions. The purchase is expected to span BMG far beyond those parameters, with Lamarre on his way to China for a seven-city Cirque tour there in October.
“We started to feel like we needed some help, plus we had some creative ideas that were beyond our means,” Wink told the New York Times. “We thought of some ways that the Blue Men and their performances could go on a bigger scale.”
Marc Routh, president of Broadway Asia, added that demand for theatre in China and other areas of Asia are growing.