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Treats actors with great care, it says

RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
THEATRE CRITIC

May 2, 2005

NEW YORK - Colour the Blue Men red. As in angry.

The three founding members of the internationally successful performance art ensemble knows as Blue Man Group are sitting in their Manhattan studios, and the gloves are off.

For over four months, Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton have taken the high road in the face of an aggressive, often highly personal campaign on the part of Canadian Actors' Equity to boycott the Toronto production of their show because Blue Man Group refuses to join the union.

Why? The Blue Men insist that for 14 years they have worked happily around the world without such an affiliation.

Since opening at the Astor Place Theatre in 1991 (where they celebrated their 7,000th performance on Friday), they've opened productions in Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas and Berlin - without being members of the American branch of Actors' Equity and have done so with the full permission of the union.

"Equity never considered what we do in America to be under their jurisdiction," explains Wink, "because we're part of the performance-art tradition."

And Maria Somma, spokesperson for the American branch of the union, explained earlier this year why it was never an issue. "Blue Man Group was never pursued by Equity to join us, because their show doesn't have a book (script) and consequently wouldn't fall under our jurisdiction."

It's true that American Equity has come out in support of the Canadian boycott, but it hasn't indicated that it will change in any way the relationship it has kept with the American company for 14 years.

"It's obvious what's happening," said one major Toronto cultural executive, speaking on condition of anonymity. "American Equity doesn't agree with what's going on up here at all, but they have to offer token support to a fellow union."

To date, most of the rhetoric has come from Equity. The most damning charge, in the eyes of the Blue Men, is the assumption that the failure to join the Canadian union makes all of its employees "unprofessional."

"It's sad, hurtful and inaccurate," insists Goldman. "We've performed thousands of shows around the world to millions of people, appeared hundreds of times of national TV shows, won countless awards, gotten platinum DVD's and gold records."

"Our group is like Cirque du Soleil in many ways," adds Wink, "and they're allowed to perform in Toronto without being members of Equity, so why aren't we?"

Susan Wallace, executive director of Equity maintains that the group "hasn't replied to any of our invitations to meet." But Goldman counters that he has "sat down personally with union leadership and we have hired a Canadian lawyer who has had a constant and ongoing dialogue with the unions."

Wallace says Equity has questions about the entire compensation package Blue Man offers its performers. Goldman maintains, "Our per person wages are as high or higher than any union minimum. And none of our performers do more than six or seven shows a week, unlike the eight a week allowed by Equity, or the 10 a week at Cirque du Soleil."

Wallace has also implied that Blue Man works on a "demerit" system, where employees are terminated after achieving a certain amount of negative points. Wink denies this categorically. "There is no `three strikes and you're out' philosophy around here and we never use the word `demerit.' If we had done anything wrong in dealing with anyone, the world would have heard about it."

And when it comes to Equity questioning Blue Man's safety standards, Goldman snaps. "We have always placed the safety of our employees first and foremost. We prompted the tearing down and rebuilding one of the most dangerous theatre environments in Toronto, (the New Yorker) an environment where Equity was happy to allow its members to work for years."

Stanton sums up their feelings. "If a union is about caring for your employees and seeing that they get a decent life, that's something we're dedicated to 100 per cent. We just don't call it a union."

Goldman concludes, "This boycott is not about social justice. This is a power issue. The unions are using their power tools to force us to try and accept something that is not going to work for us. At the end of the day, we want to let the people of Toronto decide."

They'll get their chance when the show starts previews at the renamed Panasonic Theatre on June 8.

© 2005 Toronto Star

The original article is located HERE