‘Spinal Tap’ taps Blue Man Group for new drummer
We hope the Blue Man who auditioned to be Spinal Tap’s drummer has avoided being “sneezed into oblivion.”
Spinal Tap’s drummers famously, and farcically, have died unusually throughout the band’s 60-year career. A rough count is 11. One “choked on vomit” (perhaps not his own, legend has it). Another spontaneously combusted. The “bizarre gardening accident” claimed another.
Fans of the fictional band and feature film are familiar with this trend. In “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” the aging rockers invite a member of Blue Man Group to audition. This is to replace the drummer who reportedly sneezed himself into oblivion, a first in rock ‘n’ roll and probably in life.
The scene is in the upcoming movie, due out Sept. 12. The original band members Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer return in their iconic rock-star personas.
Fran Drescher is back as Bobbi Flekman, Paul Shaffer as Artie Fufkin.
Elton John, Paul McCartney, Questlove, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lars Ulrich of Metallica make cameos. Questlove, Smith and Ulrich are terrific drummers, and, we surmise, competing with the Blue Man for a spot in the lineup.
Celebrating 25 years in Las Vegas this year, BMG is a clear choice to help fill the percussion role. The bald, blue-hued performers are required to drum various instruments and PVC pipe is a requirement for Luxor’s blue-hued group. Though they don’t speak, Blue Man Group is a noisy and rhythmic bunch.
“It just kind of falls into place that they would be casting a wide net for various types of drummers, and Blue Man Group was on the list,” says BMG Productions Artistic Director Matt Ramsey, who has been with the company for 20 years and plays the film role. “We set up the paint drums and worked out a drum part to it and that’s what we did.”
This is the first scene ever for Blue Man Group in a major theatrical release. As Tobias in the sitcom “Arrested Development,” David Cross was a “swing” Blue Man (he joined the group after answering an audition call believing it was a support group for depressed people). And early in his career, Fred Armisen was a drummer for the Blue Man Group in Chicago.
In the “Tap” Sequel,” director Rob Reiner (reviving his Marty DiBergi doc-director character)led the 10-minute audition scene. The segment is sure to be edited down in the final cut. The filming took place coincidentally on March 6, Reiner’s 78th birthday.
“It as a crazy experience. They brought out a cake after we wrapped, and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Rob Reiner, and I was right there,” says Ramsey, who pressed his blue-painted thumb against Reiner’s cheek as a birthday gift, “which I don’t think he appreciated.”
Reiner asked for one provision, that only one Blue Man appears in the film.
“As a performance, as a live piece to the public, there’s always three Blue Men,” Ramsey says. “We pushed back and said, ‘How about we do the whole group? And he said, ‘That won’t work.’ I was like, ‘OK, Mr. Reiner, you got it. We’ll do just one.’”
Ramsey is a fan of the original “This is Spinal Tap” and the band’s soundtrack album of the same name, which is sampled for the scene.
“I love those performers. I love how they ad lib, and make things up as they go along,” Ramsey says. “It was really a thrill to be able to be in the room with them and kind of do the same thing.”
Sign them up
On Thursday, the day they sold out Radio City Music Hall in New York, Penn & Teller were honored near the Rio with their long-overdue street sign. Penn & Teller Court is on Viking Road, leading into the hotel.
This just happened, with no fanfare.
But a dedication ceremony is planned for when they return to Vegas from their run at the London Palladium on Oct. 3.
What Works in Vegas
Ashlee Simpson at Voltaire at The Venetian.
The “Pieces of Me” 2000s star has sold out her first two shows Friday and Saturday, reports Voltaire founder and The Venetian/Palazzo F&B exec Michael Gruber. Simpson is back Sept. 19, 20, 24, 26 and 27, her first Strip residency production.
On the carpet
A name that caught my eye on the “Wizard of Oz at Sphere” VIP list for Thursday’s premiere: Steve Schirippa. Before he was Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri on “The Sopranos,” Schirippa ran entertainment at the Riviera when revenue ran through the hotel like a river of molten gold.
Schirippa once told me he had $2 million annual budget in the mid-1990s — just for Riviera’s Le Bistro Theater lounge.
Schirippa booked live entertainment at the hotel from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. (or later), every day and night. He was first to stage the Lon Bronson All-Star Band in Las Vegas. These were the halcyon days when something like Sphere would only have been a backstage hallucination at the late, great Riv.
Tease this …
A generations-ago pop star who is still touring and recording with great zeal is dropping a video at midnight Pacific time Thursday. We have some bonafide rock stardom, a boxing ring and a nod to a legendary Vegas showman in this one. Oh, and also yours truly. Check back.
Cool Hang Alert
The “Soul Fusion” all-star music revival returns to Myron’s at The Smith Center at 7 p.m. Thursday. Keyboard great David Siegel (T.I., Soulja Boy, Enrique Iglesias, Jessica Simpson) is music director. Ashley Fuller, Rita Lim, Sina Foley and Alli Starr are the standout vocalists. The soul stylings of Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Vanessa Williams are in the mix. The show even delves into a showcase of selections by The Weeknd. Go to thesmithcenter.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
