Photos from 2019 by Stacie Joy
The Blue Man Group will end its long-running show — some 17,000 performances — at the Astor Place Theatre this coming Feb. 2.
No reasons were cited for the end of the production here and in Chicago. According to The Guardian, "The announcement comes at a time when theaters around New York and across the country are struggling to stay afloat amid dwindling ticket sales and shrinking audience sizes compared to pre-pandemic shows."
In 1987, a trio of Lower East Side artists — Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink — started what would "arguably become the most financially lucrative performance art troupe in the world." Cirque du Soleil bought the show in 2017.
Before taking up residency on Astor Place on Nov. 17, 1991 (EVG readers gave the show six weeks tops), the group played out and about at a variety of local venues, including King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Avenue A at Seventh Street (where Niagara is now).
Per the flyer from August 1989: "Bring a walkman to the show!"
Flyer via the King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Facebook page
4 comments:
King tuts Wawa hut, that place was the bomb…behind the bar They had a giant photograph of Madonna with candles all over the place a grungy pop star altar Shall we say…Blue man group and lots of weirdos, we’re talking old East village shit people…you probably missed it.
Sad to see them go. It had a good run. Seen them back in the day when tixs were cheap and nobody knew who they were.
Murdered a LOT of brain cells at The WaWa Hut!! Good Times!!
I’m a Blue Man Group veteran (1994-2008). My first apartment in NYC was the Blue Man Group crash pad on St. Marks. Between the theater at Astor, our workshop on 3rd St. (RIP), the recording studio on Clinton and our offices at Broadway & Houston, we worked (and played!) hard to bring the magic born in the East Village around the world. I’m so proud of what we built and grateful to have worked with some of the most talented and passionate people imaginable. It was a wild ride and a great run!
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