34 Years Later, Blue Man Group's NYC Run Is Ending

The Blue Man Group started performing off-Broadway in New York City more than three decades ago. In February, the show will end after more than 17,000 performances in the city, the Guardian reports. The group actually started in New York in 1987, but it wasn't until 1991 that it landed a residency at the Astor Place Theatre, where it's been playing ever since. The group features three bald performers painted blue who play drums, splatter paint, and perform other "stage antics," all while not speaking. The Chicago run of the show, which began in 1997, is also ending in 2025, ABC 7 reports. The final Windy City show will be held on Jan. 5.

The group will continue performing in its Las Vegas, Boston, and Berlin residencies, and will also start a residency in Orlando next year. "I am honored and humbled to be part of the historic evolution of Blue Man Group, which started in New York back in 1991, and so it is with deepest gratitude to announce the final performances in Chicago," the group's managing director said in a statement to ABC 7. No reason was given for the ending of the New York and Chicago residencies. (More Blue Man group stories.)