TAKE EIGHT
with ‘Blue Man’ Bryce Flint-Somerville Donning a bald cap, grease paint and blue eyeliner is all in day’s work for Bryce Flint-Somerville. A member of the Blue Man Group for two decades, his job has taken him around the country and overseas, but he’s returned to the cast in Boston just in time for the group’s 5th annual Drum-Off competition, a showcase of the area’s extraordinary drumming talent where one lucky winner gets the opportunity to play with the famed performance group. (You can check out the finals, which are open to the public and will be held on Saturday, July 7 from 5-6 p.m. during the free Summer Block Party at The Lawn on D in Boston.) When Flint-Somerville isn’t judging drum competitions or covered in blue paint, he’s just dad, balancing the parenting act like the rest of us.
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What’s your background and how did it lead you the Blue Man Group? I am first and foremost an actor. I trained at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, whose acting conservatory concentrated on the classics: Shakespeare, Moliere, Shaw, etc. Needless to say, all of the intensive language study went out of the door when I became a Blue Man! During my studies, I was introduced to mask and physical acting. This excited me to the point of obsession, and when I moved to New York in the mid ‘90s, I made it a point to see Blue Man Group. I volunteered to be an usher one night and was completely blown away by the performance. I knew I had to be a part of it. There was absolutely no question about it. I went to an audition and 20 years later I’m still loving it.
What experiences stand out in your years as a member of the group? I was in Chicago and performed in the first show after 9/11, when the feeling of shock and bewilderment was very palpable in the city. I was uncertain as to what it would be like onstage. Would anyone laugh? Was it even OK to make jokes at this time? I personally didn’t feel like being up there. Our country was mourning. I reminded myself of the amazing ability Blue Man Group has in connecting people with each other. It was my responsibility to facilitate that connection. The show was amazing. I was a lightning rod for the audience’s angst, fear and frustrations. The laughs were huge, but it was the sense of connection with every member of the audience that I remember so vividly. We were working things out, all of us. It was a profound lesson in the power of the performer and in live theatre.
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Your schedule must be quite hectic. How do balance family life and “Blue” life? I don’t think “hectic” is the right word. My work week is shorter than a traditional 40-hour week, although the hours I put in require an intensive focus. Working nights and weekends does allow me to be an active parent in my child’s life, picking up and dropping off from school, preparing meals, errands, the whole shebang.
Tell us a little about the makeup process. How did you get blue? The process itself takes about 30 minutes and involves a bald cap and grease paint, but we really view it as more of a transformation into a character. The makeup is just part of becoming a Blue Man and the other part is embodying the character and starting to think like a Blue Man.
You’ve recently returned to performing in Boston, after performing with Blue Man Group in Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, and Berlin. What’s special about the Beantown? I always return to Boston. It was the first city I performed in. It’s where I met my wife. She was a barista at Curious Liquids, a coffee shop that used to be right across from the Massachusetts Statehouse (RIP). The view from the Longfellow Bridge is reason enough to live here.
You are a proud dad to an 8-year-old daughter. She must think that Dad has a pretty cool job? She thinks it’s completely normal for her dad to come home with bits of glue and traces of blue eyeliner on him. For her, going to the theatre to become a post-modern-vaudevillian is the same as going to the office. She is keen, however, on informing me that I am a “Weirdsmobile”.
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The Blue Man Group Boston is hosting their 5th annual Drum-Off competition. What impresses you most about this event and the local talent? Exciting for you to share the stage with the Grand Prize winner? Seeing people from all walks of life come together with the common language of drumming is absolutely amazing. To be able to meet someone for the first time, yet already have a shared experience is special, and I cherish such connections. It’s just another example of how Blue Man Group connects people.
The Blue Man Group is known for their drumming. Was this already a talent of yours or did you have to learn? I was not a drummer. When I decided to audition for the show, I bought some sticks and practiced for many hours a day. When they hired me, it was on the stipulation that I continue with drum lessons. I found myself getting instruction at Berklee! Never in my life had I thought that I would be in that situation. I still feel like I’m a novice sometimes, although the reality is that I have been drumming for 20 years now.
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