Nickelodeon’s Double Dare is reimagined as an interactive off-Broadway show
On your Marc, get set, slime!
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When I look back at television in the 90s, Nickelodeon stands out with its slate of animated programs, as well as its line up of children’s game shows. Figure It Out, Legends of the Hidden Temple, GUTS, and of course, Double Dare!
If you were like me, you were hoping to make your way to Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios in Florida, to take your shot at the physical challenge and win that trip to science camp! Alas, I never made it to the Double Dare set, but the dream of being a part of the Double Dare experience is as real as ever as ‘The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers’ is set to make its off-Broadway debut this February.
Directed by Chad Rabinovitz, with words by Alex Brightman and music by Drew Gasparini, ‘The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers’ is described as ‘part interactive game show, part memoir,’ as former host Marc Summers takes audiences on a journey on and off screen. While the show officially opens on Thursday, February 22nd at New World Stages in New York City, I was fortunate enough to speak with members of the creative team ahead of its debut, and I even got to try out some of the iconic challenges in this exciting and nostalgic production.
What is The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers about?
The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers is really a story about overcoming obstacles, no pun intended, as the story is about the life of Marc Summers. Summers has been open about being an on camera personality while battling obsessive compulsive disorder and a cancer diagnosis. "I also talk about how to get from point A to point B, and how difficult obstacles can be," Summers told Popverse. "The challenge of life is, why do some people just throw in the towel and give up, and other people figure a way over, under, around, and through the wall that's blocking them, and I talk about the positivity."
While the show touches upon Summers' OCD diagnosis, the show is also about fun and according to Summers, "in the middle of the show we break out with a game." And what are those games you may be wondering? Those games are in fact obstacles, similar to those seen in Double Dare.
The Challenges
Over the course of the show, Double Dare had TONS of challenges its contestants would participate in. In ‘The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers,’ fans can expect to see ‘Utter Nonsense’ where participants will have to pour milk into a container that is attached to a hat being worn by someone, and a laundry challenge, where contestants will have to throw laundry backwards over their heads to their partner waiting to catch them in a laundry basket. And of course there is the iconic nose which participants need to pick to obtain a flag… and hope they don’t get sprayed with boogers in the process.
When asked about choosing the challenges for the stage production, Chad Rabinovitz states, “Number one, we had to have the nose. The nose is one of the biggest visual icons of the show.” Rabinovitz continued, “It was kind of finding what is the most nostalgic memories of those games and bringing that to the stage.”
What audiences can expect from The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers
When asked about what fans can expect from the show, the creative team had this to share:
“Fun. Thought provoking. Messy stories that lead up to the positivity of people’s lives and if they follow the right path, they can do anything.” - Marc Summers
“The story of a man who hosted the messiest game show on television, while having a secret of battling obsessive compulsive disorder and you get to watch all of that through a roller coaster of fun adventures.” - Chad Rabinovitz
“A very heartfelt, unbelievable story that involves a lot of fun and some audience participation.” - Drew Gasparini
Want more of that nostalgic Nickelodeon content? Be sure to read about the actual story behind that Blue's Clues viral video with Steve Burns.
