Chasing the blues away

"THE funny thing about wearing a mask is that you're actually opening yourself up more," says Phil Stanton, one of the founding members of performance act Blue Man Group. "When we go through our daily lives, we don't tend to make eye contact with strangers, but when we're wearing our masks, it becomes easier for both the performer and the audience to engage with each other."

The mask in question is just the colour blue, in which the trio of performers are liberally coated. The other sole defining characteristic is a bald pate. Stanton, 56, says: "That's kind of the point. The Blue Man doesn't belong to a particular culture or even country. Our focus has been to make it a universal concept, rather than a commercial one."

Still, the show's commercial success cannot be denied, as it has been running for 25 years since its debut in New York in 1991. To celebrate this anniversary, the group has developed a new worldwide tour, which is launching in Singapore.