CASE STUDIES: THEATER
Blue Man Group
MANAGEMENT
The Blue Man shows in New York, Boston, and Chicago and the stuff of entertainment legend. In 2023, the company hired us as consultants for an ambitious refresh of all video content, and of the video systems that deliver it.
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
DXP’s role was threefold: (a) to model the entirety of all three venues, so that we could identify where new state-of-the-art LED panels could be installed; (b) to subcontract and supervise a complete refresh of the video content; and (c) to design an entire technical system to deliver that content to the LED screens.
PRODUCTION
Over the course of a year, we worked with Tim Aumiller and Mark Comiskey at Blue Man Group, plus Mary Grisolano, Frank Watkins, and the rest of the Cirque du Soleil team, to design the system — from playback, through signal processing, all the way through to display. Each system comprised over 60 new hardware components, to deliver a compelling and immersive new show. We hired designers Pretty Damn Sweet to create awesome new video content that took advantage of the new systems.
INTEGRATION
Installing the system, and getting all the new components to communicate, was the most important part of the process. Working with both BMG and CDS technical and house teams (led by Nyki DeDreu) in limited dark time, each integration went very well. The theaters soon reopened with the new show, which quickly achieved critical and commercial success.
