LED displays harnessed by Blue Man Group

Thursday 17th January 2013

Although the Blue Man Group offers an experimental and often outlandish live experience, it has nevertheless found mainstream success over many decades and continues to innovate in an often generic marketplace.

AV Interactive reports that the latest addition to the show involves the use of LED displays to enhance engagement with the audience, as well as allow for the introduction of new elements never seen before on stage.

The creative types behind the show have managed to use LED displays in combination with a projection to create what they call '2.5D,' since it is possible for the performers to apparently emerge from a flat surface and start to move around, independent of the screen out of which they appear.

The LED displays are actually mounted right onto the members of the troupe, with each modular screen measuring 32cm by 16cm and being affixed to performers via a series of magnets.

Spokesperson, Bill Schwartz, said that the use of LED displays began in a single show, but has since expanded to encompass five different live experiences in the US.

He also pointed out that the Blue Man Group has always attempted to try new things and develop an act that takes advantage of the latest technological breakthroughs.

The LED displays are wearable and practical because they are so thin, which means they do not really restrict the performers.

It is thought that in the future, the Blue Man Group will use screens of this kind for further experimental routines, with the possibility that flexible LED displays will be adopted.

Schwartz pointed out that while the LED displays were light, the team had worked hard to ensure that managing all of the systems behind the scenes was as easy as possible, in spite of potential pitfalls.