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Blue Man Group is a creative organization centered on a trio of mute performers that present themselves in blue paint, latex bald caps, and black clothing. Friends Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton (collectively referred to as CMP) conceived the idea during the 1980s while in New York City. They began appearing on the streets in Blue Man regalia, entertaining passersby, staging unusual events such as "The Funeral For the 80s", and short bits in Tom Murrin's "The Alien Comic's" underground cabarets in "The CLUB" at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club. Meryl Vladimer, then Artistic Director of "The CLUB," liked what she saw in their work and commissioned Blue Man Group to create a full-length show. The resulting piece, "TUBES," took off after Vladimer persuaded The New York Times critic Stephen Holden to review it. Blue Man Group's popularity continued to snowball, eventually winning CMP an Obie Award and a "Lucille Lortel" Award, which led producers to take the show to off-Broadway. "TUBES" opened in 1991 at the Astor Place Theater. This critically acclaimed show, as well as frequent appearances on The Tonight Show, enabled CMP and Blue Man Group team to open similar productions and expand their concepts into other kinds of performances. In June of 2007, they expanded to open a theater exclusively for the BMP (formerly Nickelodeon Studios) at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida, performing two shows daily. In 1999, the group released their first audio recording, appropriately titled Audio. Although it contained some of the music from their stage productions, it was less of a soundtrack and more a collection of full-length instrumentals that featured new instruments. In 2002, the group participated in Moby's Area2 tour, giving a more rock-oriented performance than in the theatrical shows. Songs developed during this tour appeared on 2003's album The Complex. Unlike Audio, The Complex featured a variety of vocalists and guests including Tracy Bonham, Dave Matthews, Gavin Rossdale and Venus Hum. The record spawned its own 2003 tour, the first headlined by Blue Man Group. The tour deconstructed the traditional rock concert experience into its often clichéd parts and was chronicled in a 2004 DVD release. The tour featured Tracy Bonham and Venus Hum as supporting acts. The DVD included a surround sound mix of some of the studio recordings. Blue Man Group launched its second tour, The "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0", on September 26, 2006. The tour added some new material to material from the original Complex Rock Tour, and had Tracy Bonham as an opening act and vocalist. DJ/VJ Mike Relm was the opening act for the second leg of this tour, which ended April 22, 2007 in Wilkes-Barre, PA. This third leg of the tour began in May 2007 and included performances in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile. The fourth leg, using "2.1" in its title, included more U.S. and Canada dates. Following that, the Megastar World Tour visited France, Korea, Canada, Germany, and a few other European countries throughout 2008. The "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0" visited Taipei, Taiwan from August 19 to 23 as part of a promotional campaign for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics in Taipei, most of the show's dialogue displayed with subtitle. As Typhoon Morakot hit the island and caused serious damage in mid August, the group agreed to perform one extra show with the proceeds being donated to the victims of the flood. Announced in 2009, Blue Man Group will be performing for the first time at sea on Norwegian Cruise Line's newest ship, the Norwegian EPIC. The EPIC begins alternating 7-Day Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings round-trip Miami with Blue Man Group shows nightly starting July 2010. "Bluephoria/Live at The Venetian – Las Vegas" in Las Vegas at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino (October 10, 2005–present) User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.