Blue Man Group has now moved to the Venetian. We attended a free preview
performance tonight and the Venetian gave its VIP guests a nice reception as
well.
I've seen the show twice before at the Luxor, and the new show is very
similar. The old C2K nightclub has been revamped with new theater-style chairs
(an upper balcony remains - I don't know if it is the same or not - didn't go
up there). The chairs are smallish and have drink holders which are not very
deep - my water bottle easily fell out. The stage has been enlarged as well.
It seemed to me that the new stage started where the old one was, which
meant that the chairs angle down to the low area below the stage. That put
about the first 10 or so rows of chairs a little low for the stage. I was in row
H (presumably row 8) and had to crane my neck a little bit - but not too bad
- I was just glad not to be in row 1. In this theater you'll probably want
to be about row K and center if possible. But even the further back seats
should be just fine. This theater actually seemed a bit smaller than the Luxor
(though we couldn't get a good view of how big the balcony was).
The lines to get in were long and confused - possibly due to the fact that
this was still a preview show, with a number of Venetian employees getting in
with vouchers, various groups (some of whom were led in before others standing
in line - but not us --- the VIP players had to stand with the rest). More
ticket takers would be helpful (maybe more doors!).
There is an entrance through the Blue Man shop to the right - so if you
arrive early enough you might try heading there first for faster entrance. By 15
minutes to showtime all lines were long.
Our show (I think there may be 2 a night) started at 7pm, but the long lines
caused it to actually start at 7:30. As in the Luxor show, attendants come
into the theater to hand out crepe paper at the start (you make funny hats
and drape yourself). But this process was not done efficiently - they waited
until too close to the opening to do, didn't hand everyone paper, etc.
Probably this was another preview-issue (at least hopefully). The electric signs
that start the pre-show also could have started a bit earlier to ease the
eager fans, some of whom started whistling annoyingly at the delay.
Most of the show is very similar to the old one, with drumming on drums
filled with "paint", flinging marshmellows to Blue men who make paintings with
colored marshmellows, drumming, and playing tubes. The stage is different and
more dramatic in use of signs and lights. The eating Chrunkies still goes
on, but the sound system to me (sitting on the left) made it too obvious the
Blue Men weren't doing the crunching. Minor bits were changed here and there
(and improved). There were some good minor changes in the section where a
woman is chosen from the audience to go on stage with the Blues and help them
with Twinkies. I'd wondered before if this was an audience plant, but this
time it obviously was not.
In the second half of the show the changes were more pronounced, but not
really major ones. And yes, the great 3 part sign-reading goes on. A number of
other drummers appear above the Blues at various points as they did at the
Luxor, but when curtain calls came it looked to me like there were now fewer
drummers than at the Luxor. Special effects of streamers and crepe paper
covering the audience were still there.
In fact, as I think about it, I don't think almost all the old "acts" or
"scenes" were there in some form or another, but just with added tweaking,
better lights and special effects. The spinning people are still intact as well.
If you haven't seen the Blues before I recommend it. The show is very
entertaining. There is comedy, music, drumming, comedy, and more drumming. The
show has an intellectual component that smart people will enjoy, but dumber
people and kids will enjoy everything as well.
Because of the low seats in the front, and the fact that they are very close
to the stage, the rows A-G are probably a little more prone to "spillage"
than in the Luxor. You shouldn't worry about sitting there though, since
everyone in the "splash area" is given a free plastic coverup. It could be more
fun and exciting for kids, I think.
If you've seen the Blues before, don't expect much different from what
you've already seen, but you'll probably still enjoy the show. We've seen them
about 3-4 times now and have enjoyed them every time.
The good news for the Venetian is that they really needed a good show. The
old C2K theater was very bad for watching shows, and they didn't put in very
many.
Sometime next year "Phantom of the Opera" will show up at another new
theater at the Venetian. This will be a slightly shortened version of the Broadway
show.
The Blue Man Group show runs about 90 minutes.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]