Published on September 25th, 2019 | by Darren Paltrowitz
0Jenny Koons On Directing The New Blue Man Group Show “Speechless” & Her Next Project
Yesterday, Blue Man Group — as owned by the Cirque Du Soleil Entertainment Group — kicked off its new tour, Speechless, at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Originally developed at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the launch of the new Speechless tour marks the premiere of Blue Man Group in Los Angeles. In turn, L.A. is the first of more than 50 cities around North America to welcome the Speechless tour in the coming months of its first season.
Under the helm of visionary director Jenny Koons, in her first-time collaboration with Blue Man Group, the world-renowned “bald and blue trio” embark on a fresh journey of discovery through this tour, the result of 27+ years spent observing humanity. Speechless features new and original compositions, invented instruments and unexpected situations alongside iconic Blue Man Group moments based in joy, art, music, comedy, social commentary and profound absurdity.
A New York-based director, Jenny Koons was notably the 2017 curator of New York City Center’s Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 Toronto ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre) beyond being a 2017 Lilly Award recipient. Working in collaboration with Koons on the Blue Man Group Speechless tour is Blue Man Group Creative Director Jon Knight while the tour itself is produced and promoted in partnership with NETworks Presentations.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Jenny Koons herself by phone on the tour’s official opening night — September 24, 2019 — and highlights from our interview are embedded below for your listening pleasure. More on all things Blue Man Group can be found online by visiting www.blueman.com, while Jenny Koons keeps an official online home at www.jennykoons.com.