Blue Man Group makes plans for new show, Icon Park theater
Blue Man Group’s ceremonial groundbreaking for its Icon Park theater Thursday morning included an arty moment with colorful paints, leaf blowers, three blue guys and an assist from Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.
There are no visible signs of construction for the project, which was announced in June. But the goal remains for performances in a 580-seat theater by the end of 2024, said Jack Kenn, Blue Man Group managing director.
“There’s a lot of fingers and toes crossed. We’re just waiting in the permitting process. It’s been a little bit of a process with some of the changes,” Kenn said.
“We’re able to design it from ground up. I mean, what theater company gets to do that?” he said. “We usually take over these small areas and make the best of it. But here, we’re able to really think about it and put our design into it.”
The theater will go up in the grassy area on the Universal Boulevard side of the Icon Park property, near the base of the Orlando Eye, the 400-foot observation wheel. If looking toward the Eye from the Universal Boulevard vantage point, the stage will be on the left end of the plot, with the audience entrance on the opposite end.
“It’s going to shoehorn right in. It’s going to be perfect,” Kenn said. The building will fit between two angled support posts for the Eye.
Kenn said the new show will feature familiar Blue Man routines and fresh material in the form of new musical pieces.
“The show is developed. We’re not in rehearsal phase yet,” he said. “Once we hit rehearsal phase, everything changes.”
At Thursday’s groundbreaking, where the shovels were mere props, a small group of blue men recruited Demings to squirt paint onto a canvas (and the white-jumpsuited Kenn). That led to the unveiling of fresh artwork that read “Blue is Back.”
Blue Man Group had a 14-year run at Universal Orlando in a soundstage converted into a theater that was accessed via Universal CityWalk. Production shut down along with the bulk of the tourism industry in 2020 as the pandemic took hold. That show never returned and was officially shuttered in 2021.
“When Blue Man Group was here before, I can remember seeing that show and just thinking that was an extraordinary experience for all of us to have within our community,” Demings said.
Blue Man performances typically include nontraditional instruments and percussion, electronic music, bold graphic presentations and speechless, comical, blue-skinned and bald performers. The ensemble started in New York City in 1987 and also has continuing shows in Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin and Shanghai, plus international tours.
In 2017, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group purchased Blue Man Productions. Cirque operates the “Drawn to Life” show at Disney Springs.
Orlando ticket prices for Blue Man have not been announced, but admission at Las Vegas and New York shows start at $49.
“We really like being easy access, gate-free, free parking. … An important part of our essence is easy access, and Blue Man Group was very attracted to that,” said Chris Jaskiewicz, Icon Park’s president and CEO. “I don’t like barriers. I really like the fact that this show is enjoyable to people from different countries. It fits in really well with a lot of our philosophies here.”