Blue Man Group Holding Chicago Auditions
UPDATED 04/19/11 11:30 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- No one's ever feeling blue after watching a performance by the esteemed Blue Man Group, and the production is now seeking new Blue Men to take over.
Blue Man Group began open auditions at 10 a.m. for new Blue Men. The auditions are being held at the Briar Street Theatre, 3133 N. Halsted St., which has been the Chicago home of the production for nearly 14 years.
To be a Blue Man, you can actually be a man or a woman.
But there are some specification requirements. Candidates must be between 5 feet 10 and 6 feet 1 inches tall with an athletic build. Candidates also must display solid percussion skills or a strong musical background, and excellent acting skills with a willingness to explore an alternative acting style.
"The Blue Man character is a mystical, magical, mute being - a hero and a clown, a child and a shaman that defies description as readily as it welcomes speculation," says the Web site for the production.
Blue Man Group is one of Chicago's longest-running shows, having opened in October 1997. When the show first opened, the art-deco rainbow pylons just to the north on Halsted Street had yet to be erected, an old hipster coffeehouse called Caffe Pergolesi was still one of the most famous attractions on the Boystown strip, and you probably would have found quite a few people who still called the neighborhood New Town.
But all these years later, Chicago's Blue Man Group production has still been selling out even for midweek performances, the Chicago Theater Blog reported last year.
