By Joshua Errett

Protesters are urging patrons to boycott Toronto’s Blue Man Group show for refusing to work with the city’s four theatre unions. Anywhere from 100-400 protesters (depending on who you read) gathered at the Panasonic Theatre on Sunday night to thwart the anti-union Blue Men in their opening show. Included in the protest was parliamentary voice of reason Jack Layton.
The kerfuffle/kafuffle came about when the Blue People hired non-unionized stage-hands and theatre help instead of following Toronto’s theatre code of hiring ethics. Layton, like most reasonable and responsible Canadians, is outraged that grown men are permitted to paint themselves blue and charge money for it whilst refusing to acknowledge the theatre procedures of the cities in which they “perform.” Layton says that Blue Man could be a gateway to diminishing Toronto’s prowess as a cultural centre. The ill effects of the Blue’s unwillingness to co-operate is erratic hiring/firing of theatre staff at the whim of a tempermental Blue Man. This controversy may however become a source of creative inspiration for the Blue Men, who are still looking to follow up their 2003 smash “Sing Along” featuring Dave Matthews.
Pins that read “Boycott Blue Man” are being distributed at showtimes to passer-bys in the Yonge and Charles area.