Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The autobiographical THE LIFE AND SLIMES OF MARC SUMMERS springs to life when it nostalgically reverts to “Double Dare” mode

• By drediman
• February 23, 2024
• No Comments

Those of you who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s will likely have fond memories of Double Dare — the long-running gameshow on the kids cable channel Nickelodeon — and its hugely likeable host Marc Summers. In his new autobiographical show The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers — which opened Off-Broadway last night at New World Stages — Summers chronicles not only how he landed the Double Dare gig, but also the subsequent challenges that have befallen him.

Written by Alex Brightman — one of musical theater’s reigning funny men — and directed by Chad Rabinovitz with obvious affection for both Summers and Double Dare, the show thrives on nostalgia. Unsurprisingly, The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers feels most alive when it reverts to full-on interactive Double Dare mode, complete with lovingly replicated physical challenges that tend to get rather messy. I mean this not as criticism, but as acknowledgment of the unadulterated joy that Summers brought many of us. Indeed, there were plenty of full-grown adults in the audience who giddily greeted these gameshow interludes, treating them like pseudo-religious experiences. It’s this upbeat, irrepressible part of his legacy that will undoubtedly live on in many of us. But looking beyond Summers’ cult celebrity status, we’re also presented with an inspiring portrait of human resilience, including his bouts with obsessive-compulsive disorder, extreme anxiety, struggles to remain relevant, cancer recurrences, and even a car accident.

In his Off-Broadway stage debut, Summers gives a confident, charismatic performance that effectively captures the man behind the approachable onscreen persona and photogenic grin. He’s joined onstage by Mike Nappi, who provides animated, shape-shifting support as various people in Summers’ life. Although some might prefer that the show remain strictly in Double Dare land, the beloved host’s forays into the gritty details of his life may be just the kind of contrast needed to allow the gameshow segments to fully cast their strangely balming magic from simpler times.

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THE LIFE AND SLIMES OF MARC SUMMERS
Off-Broadway, Play
New World Stages
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through June 2