In the Metro Newspaper this morning, I read a full page ad taken out by the infamous Blue Man Group. I have been unable to find a soft version of the ad.

Basically, what it comes down to is Blue Man trying to defend itself against critics who are complaining that the group is anti-union.

For our Toronto production, we have hired Canadian actors and musicians, a Canadian crew, as well as Canadian management and support staff. Some of these individuals are members of unions, and some are not. We respect their decisions either way. We are an equal opportunity emplyer and have always been open to all qualified personnel. It is an employee's choice to join a union - not an employer's place to require it.

Bravo. But the Globe & Mail's Kate Taylor on May 7th basically told the Group that they were in the wrong for not conforming to Canada's socialist ideals:

Blue Man Group is the New York-based theatrical company whose popular shows feature three speechless, blue-faced characters playing plastic plumbing, splattering paint on canvases and spewing balls from orifices both real and invented. This weird amalgam of clown, mime and performance art was started in 1991 as a small off-Broadway show created by Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink, but today, with companies also playing in Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas and Berlin, it's a 500-employee phenomenon.

In all those years, the company has not signed union contracts with its performers in the United States and believed it could operate the same way in Toronto with plans for an open-ended run at the newly renovated Panasonic Theatre (which used to be known as the New Yorker) on Yonge Street .

snip

That's wrong, because Toronto's commercial theatre scene has been built by the members of these associations and if Blue Man Group doesn't work with them it's freeloading off that history. However you may weigh the advantages and disadvantages of unions, the fact is workers aren't going to make steel or cars for free, but people will act and play music for free. Such is the lure of the stage, you may even get somebody to set the lights for free. It is these associations that have, over the years, insisted the work be decently paid and safely executed. By establishing a permanent, professional work force, they have helped build both the commercial theatre scene in Toronto, and a non-profit scene locally and nationally.

Without these workers, the landscape would look much as did before the Second World War, with amateur theatres performing locally alongside the occasional touring company from the United States or Britain. And those who have built a theatre scene have also built the audiences: without this foundation, Blue Man might be able to drop into town for a week or two, but it could never possibly renovate a theatre and stay indefinitely.

snip

In Canada, the situation is clearer: in almost all instances, you aren't a professional stage show unless your actors belong to Canadian Actors' Equity Association (which is not technically a union but rather a professional association).

Why is that? She doesn't say.

For example, this newspaper, never known for being particularly pro-union in its editorial stands, generally has a policy that it doesn't review non-Equity performances [ED: Because the Globe & Mail are commie sympathizers - RG]. Exceptions are occasionally made -- and no doubt one will be made when Blue Man opens -- but that has been the yardstick used for years to determine the difference between the professional and the amateur because it reflects the reality of the theatre scene.

Can audiences tell the difference? Sure they can. Again, there are exceptions, but most of the time if you want to see work that you'll feel was worthy of your $50 or $75 ticket, it is work performed by members of Equity with members of the Toronto Musicians' Association in the pit and members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees behind the scenes, because those are the people for whom this work is a career, not a hobby or a part-time job. With their cheap sets and painfully young performers, the non-union touring shows that do occasionally cross the border and stop in town for a week look like high-school performances, falling well shy of the standard routinely maintained by Toronto companies.

Ms Taylor goes on and on about how the unions have built up Toronto's theatre scene, but she doesn't actually get around to outlining how the Blue Man Group's lack of interest in union labour will cause the earth to shatter and the heavens to rain down fire upon us. She just waxes poetic about the fact that everybody else uses unions... and personally, contrary to her opinion, I can't tell the difference between a union and non-union production, so long as it's done by qualified professionals. Oh, wait. Yes I can - it's cheaper, because we're not paying union fees along with ticket price!

What Ms Taylor does find the opportunity to do is blame America and bash Blue Man Group for being part of the Evil Empire:

Goldman of Blue Man has said his motto is not "When in Rome . . ." but rather "Vive la différence." Trouble is it's his difference that he wants to impose here. He says this is no bus-and-truck show breezing into town for a few days, but a high-quality venture that means to be part of the scene for months to come. Yet, apparently, he's just another of those ignorant U.S. producers who fail to notice they crossed a border at Buffalo.

...into a socialist utopia.