I laughed so hard. I cheered and yelled so hard. I cried so hard. My cheeks hurt so good from smiling so hard.
If you’re in a certain age range, Marc Summers is a legit icon and seeing him in a show like this, up close and personal is legit one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do. I hope it’s a HUGE success for him.
I went tonight with some friends (all of us of the late 80s/early 90s) and this just joyously hit so many nostalgia buttons that my motherboard is broken.
Marc is a hell of a storyteller and really doesn’t skimp on how his OCD had adversely affected his life and career, but also he knows deep down that entertaining people has what has always been his saving grace even in the darkest times. The house looked to only be about 60% full (which is sad for a Saturday night) but the whole experience is a mutual love fest.
My name got drawn to go up and play the full Double Dare simulation and so I got to do a physical challenge and absolutely SMOKED the other team in the trivia (even Marc was impressed - I only missed one question). I got a prize voucher for a t-shirt (which is essentially a $30 gift voucher since you can exchange it and the largest size was too short for me 😂)
Go and have fun. You come away learning a lot about the man who made your childhood great and you can have the opportunity to return that love. (I wanted to stage door but the rain was absolutely atrocious so I may just write a letter instead.)
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I'm kind of surprised to see so few reviews for this show, what is particularly odd is the New York Times wrote a big profile on the show before it opened but they didn't review it?
From the reviews I did see and my experience last night, it didn’t seem like a show that was reviewable - if that makes sense.
It’s really just a hybrid E! True Hollywood Story and nostalgic game show experience. I feel like it doesn’t need Jesse Green (or designee) to roll in and write up a critique. It’s dopey, fun, and also deeply affecting at times. Those who know Marc’s work will love it. Those who never heard of him or Double Dare won’t go see it.
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Am I the only person who loved seeing Marc, but really disliked that "surprise 'audience member' element"? I felt like it kept taking the focus & spotlight away from Marc, during a show that was supposed to be him telling his story.
"I never had theatre producers run after me. Some people want to make more Broadway shows out of movies. But Elliot and I aren't going to do Batman: The Musical." - Julie Taymor 1999
Caught this recently and I was REALLY taken with it. He's an incredibly engaging presence (we knew that already), and this is a really smartly structured show by Alex Brightman & Summers. It helps that it's not actually a one-man-show, which makes it more dynamic. I only knew him as a personality and didn't know he had been through hell and back, health-wise –– more than once.
I thought it was a little odd that for a show speaking so much about OCD, he didn't actually explain his process for dealing with it. Hearing specific examples for how people cope might help others dealing with it (medication, therapy, etc)
It wasn't well-sold at all, but the crowd was really warm towards it. Maybe would do better as a series of one-night tour stops?
The marketing and producing for this show has been absolutely awful, if you are in New York City or nearby between now and June 2nd you should go check this out, it is a really great time.
I haven't paid much attention to the marketing & advertising, but the budgets must be relatively small even by Off-Bway standards, considering he does 5 shows a week now.
It feels like they should have hired ad/mkting/press agencies who are NOT of the theatre world. Press coverage on Playbill or TheaterMania is meaningless. Just focus on tourists and families and Gen X and millennials and gameshow fans and theme park people.
It's also pretty damning that if you google "marc summers" or "life and slimes", the show's website is nowhere to be found: evidence that the traffic just hasn't been there to bring it to the top and they can't afford to advertise on Google. They're probably not effectively seizing the moment of the recent Nickelodeon documentary, either, even though this show doesn't touch any of that.
Even if the budget is small does it matter if the show is apparently not selling? the show has 5 weeks left and every performance on telecharge most of the seats are unsold
I absolutely love this show and wanted my wife to see it before it closes this weekend. So I went to Telecharge this morning to try and get a digital rush ticket and they're not offering it for tonight. Despite there being as many unsold seats as there are every night.
Jonathan Cohen said: "I absolutely love this show and wanted my wife to see it before it closesthis weekend. So I went to Telecharge this morning to try and get a digital rush ticket and they're not offering it for tonight. Despite there being as many unsold seats as there are every night.