Location: Briar Street Theater, 3133 North Halsted, Chicago
Phone: 773-348-4000
Dates: See a full list of dates and times at Ticketmaster. Additional shows have been added through the month of April for spring break.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 18 p.m. | 22, 5, 8 p.m. | 32, 5, 8 p.m. | 41, 4, 7 p.m. | 54, 7, 10 p.m. | ||
| 61, 4, 7 p.m. | 78 p.m. | 88 p.m. | 92, 8 p.m. | 102, 8 p.m. | 111, 4, 7 p.m. | 124, 7, 10 p.m. |
| 131, 4, 7 p.m. | 14 | 15 | 1612, 8 p.m. | 172, 8 p.m. | 184, 7 p.m. | 194, 7, 10 p.m. |
| 204, 7 p.m. | 21 | 22 | 232, 8 p.m. | 242, 8 p.m. | 251, 4, 7 p.m. | 264, 7, 10 p.m. |
| 271, 4, 7 p.m. | 28 | 29 | 302, 8 p.m. |
Admission: Tickets are $49-$99/person.
Blue Man Group is offering special Spring Break packages:
For Spring Breakers looking to enhance their experience, Blue Man Group is partnering with Chicago-area attractions to create fun and exciting packages highlighting the city, all available through the show’s website www.blueman.com/chicago/about-show. The John Hancock Package pairs tickets to a Blue Man Group performance with a day at the John Hancock Observatory where visitors can enjoy the open-air skywalk, a cafe and one of the most beautiful views of Chicago and Lake Michigan. For a one-of-a-kind tour of the city, audience members who purchase their Blue Man Group tickets online, can save 10% on 1-day or 3-dayChicago Trolley and Double Decker Co. tickets. For those looking for a thrill, the Skydeck Package gives audiences the chance to experience a Blue Man Group performance and visit Chicago’s Willis Tower’s Skydeck. At the Skydeck, visitors can step outside the tallest building in the western hemisphere and onto one of the Ledge’s glass boxes that extend out 4.3 feet from Skydeck at 1,353 feet in the air.
For Spring Breakers looking for the “Ultimate Theater Package” Blue Man Group has created an experience which includes: Two tickets to Blue Man Group, an overnight stay at the Hampton Inn and Suites River North, free breakfast and a gift card to Jack’s on Halsted for a delicious dinner for two. For more information and pricing on special packages please visit: www.blueman.com/chicago/discount-offers or call the box at: (773) 348-4000.
Parking: There is a small dedicated lot next to the theatre, but you can not leave because cars are blocked in. Parking in this lot is $12. There is no easy street parking.
Bathrooms: There are public bathrooms. Dexter (age 4) needed a boost to reach the sinks. The bathrooms have custom music and a water sculpture.
Nursing: There is no designated nursing area.
Handicapped/stroller accessibility: Yes, the theatre is handicapped accessible. I would not recommend bringing a stroller.
Food: There are several restaurants in the area of the theatre.
We paid: $12 for parking. We received complimentary tickets. It would have cost approximately $150 for John, Cooper, & Dexter to attend.
Our Experience:
Because Campbell’s still a bit young, I stayed home with him while Toddling Dad (John) took Cooper & Dexter to the show. Here’s their experience in his own words:
Spring Break is about here, and if you aren’t leaving town, you’re looking for something special to entertain the kids during their week off. I was very excited to take my six-year-old and my four-year-old to Blue Man Group.
Toddling Mom and I saw it when it was pretty new to Chicago ^*&% years ago. My memory of the show was that it was silly and fun with a few pretty cool gimmicks.
People love Blue Man Group. Seriously, if you haven’t been, ask someone who has. They loved it. The first time I saw it, I did not. I think when I went I was going through a jaded, pretentious twenty-something phase and I missed a lot of the point of the show.
Brief aside needed to get to the point of my review—Toddling Mom was ready to have kids before I was. I came to an unlikely turning point when we went to Sea World. I was thoroughly bored most of the day in a been-there, done-that sort of way. I noticed that all the parents around us were having the time of their lives. In a flash I realized they were seeing a whole new world through the eyes of their kids. In an admittedly selfish way, fatherhood started to make sense.
My six-year-old Cooper is an aspiring artist. When you enter the Briar Street theatre, you walk into an art installation in which music is literally piped into a room full of kinetic and static sculptures. I mean really, at least ten different soundtracks are played through plastic pipes that run around the room. Cooper was overwhelmed. Dexter needed to hear every pipe.
When entering with my four-year-old, the ticket-taker asked us to step aside. A manager was called to the ticket taker stand, and Dexter was given a pair of noise-reducing head phones. The manager explained that the show was very loud (it was) and asked that he wear them for the whole show. Dexter can be very sensitive to noise. We brought ear protection for him when we went to Monster Jam, but it never occurred to me for this show. I can honestly say the headphones completely changed his evening.
The show itself is part bizarre characters, part rock concert, part comedy, part collaborative art project, and part dance party. The show has no intermission, but this wasn’t a problem for my boys. The action was brisk and constant and took the boys from wonder, to laughter, to excitement.
With the little guys, I would strongly recommend using the bathroom before the show. I saw a few families miss some cool stuff making potty runs.
There was a very minor bit of harsh language in an otherwise family-friendly show. On a scrolling text screen next to the stage, there was a brief mention of sexting. (Thankfully our new reader didn’t make an issue of it.) And the closing song, much to my boys’ delight, includes what seems like a hundred different synonyms for “butt.”
Cooper declared it the best show he had ever seen. Dexter, spoiled little theater-goer he is, said it was about equal to The Elephant and the Whale (a Chicago Children’s Theater/ Redmoon show we saw last year).
My boys, who fight any sniff of audience participation, were both up shaking their butts at the end.
It might just be that I have shed my angst-ridden glasses but I totally agreed with Dexter.
