A Decade with Blue Man Group
Roles: Video Designer, Video Production Director, Associate Creative Director
When I crossed paths with the theatrical phenomenon that is Blue Man Group, I was a video artist living my best life in New York City. I was creating themed video art work with my girlfriends, and fusing my love of music and wild visuals at the unforgettable underground parties and experimental clubs of NYC and Russia. I never expected that I could make a living with experimental, music-driven work, until I sat down with Caryl Glaab, Creative Director of Video at Blue Man Group (aka the 4th blue man). We initially connected to discuss video production and video design at the Blue Man video studio, and the rest is history.
If NYU Film school was the place where I discovered my voice as an artist, my time at Blue Man Group was the place where I cut my teeth on consistently delivering innovative, world-class, large-scale, multi-faceted productions for both live theatrical events and traditional media platforms. It is the place where I learned the nuances in creating video art and video designs for multiple platforms, and delivering incredible content that moved audiences each and every time. It is also the place where I learned how to be a leader.
Beginning at a corner studio in a soHo office with 2 other video creatives, we grew our studio into a full-blown production and post-production facility based in the Lower East Side. There I directed large teams of some of the most incredible video creatives I’ve met in my life. I am proud of the work we created for the Blue Man Group show, whether it was for sit down shows and world tours, television appearances and worldwide gigs, or peripheral content such as short form videos, online spots, video billboards, music videos, and the like. When Blue Man Group was acquired by Cirque du Soleil, our relationship continued and I continue to design with Blue Man Group today.
The Work
Here are a few highlights from my time at Blue Man Group….enjoy!
Zygote Finale
If there is one piece that defines my time at Blue Man Group, it would be Zygote Finale. This was a multichannel video piece Caryl Glaab and I designed top to bottom in collaboration with Blue Man Co-Founder Chris Wink. This was the time when LED surfaces were a brand new thing and we were about to go on a North American Tour! Blue Man Group was also moving its long time Las Vegas production from The Venetian to the Monte Carlo. We needed something extravagant, a multi-sensorial collage, an incredible euphoric expression to cap the Blue Man Group show. I poured tons of creative energy into this piece, and led a magnificent team of animators, motion graphics artists, and editors to create this masterpiece. Special credit goes to Luke Schantz and Dom Amatore. After its debut in the Monte Carlo show, Zygote Finale or elements thereof would be incorporated into every Blue Man Group show, even today.
Blue Man Group Shanghai
When Blue Man Group was acquired by Cirque du Soleil, my relationship as Video Designer continued to flourish. This is an animatic rendering of a more recent piece I designed for the 2024 sit down show in Shanghai. All of the elements here incorporate elements of nature, which I am constantly inspired by and imbue in my work.
Universal Orlando Video Installation
This was a multichannel video installation in the Orlando Blue Man Theater. It was created using original, otherworldly orb visuals I was working with at the time, plus slow motion footage captured by our team in NYC. From there, I led a tight team of my favorite video artists to create what you see here.
America’s Got Talent Season Finale
Our brilliant team went just across the river to New Jersey for this live taping at the America’s Got Talent studio. As the Head Video Designer of this piece, I went on this project as Video Creative Director. This was a live show, and we had just one shot to rehearse this piece before the show recording. The run through was a disaster—our brand new, never-before-seen, wearable LED costumes short circuited and cut out to black. I remember our team immediately rewiring the suits, and what you see here is nothing short of live perfection—what a thrill!
Blue Thousand and One
Remember when high resolution slow motion footage became possible? I sure do! Our studio couldn’t help but try the Phantom out on our Blue Men. Here’s what we came up with.
Blue Man Group on the Ellen DeGeneres Show
Our team flew out to Los Angeles for this taping with Ellen, around 2010 or 2011. I was the Video Creative Director on this gig, while also being the Director and Head Video Designer of the screen content. That happened a lot in my role—I would make the content with my team, then I’d go out and make sure it was implemented as we planned.
Rock and Go Music Video
There was a time at Blue Man where I made a lot of music videos. This video is interesting because I directed and edited it, while also video designing the theatrical video content that went along with this song when it played on the How to Be a Megastar tour…. super meta, super Blue Man.
Charles Playhouse Theater Video Installation
An interactive, two-floor video installation we created for our theater in Boston.
Behind the Creative Process | Making the DJ Tiesto Music Videos
Zarah at Blue Man Group in 2007!
Check out this Behind the Scenes video showing me shooting and describing the vj process involved in our DJ Tiesto music video collaboration.
No More Heroes Music Videos with DJ Tiesto
My first project with Blue Man Group…. a glimpse of what was to come. I shot, edited, and vjayed this pair of fun music videos promoting Blue Man Group’s collaboration with DJ Tiesto. It was such a fun time shooting in our studio, working with the Blue Men for the first time, and, learning curve, having to learn quite quickly how to deliver large video files to Germany :)