\n
\u201cThe Philly accent, I couldn\u2019t figure out,\u201d Summers recalled. \u201cI\u2019d say what do you like doing? \u2018Go downa Shore.\u2019 Excuse me? \u2018Go downa Shore.\u2019 I\u2019d stop tape and say, What did he just say? \u2018We go down the Shore.\u2019 I had to learn what that meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brightman, who was nine or 10 when he first met Summers at a live \u201cDouble Dare\u201d event in San Jose, Calif., said that the host has always been motivated by a genuine curiosity about the world and the people he encounters.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was asking kids slightly complex but accessible questions that made them feel like friends, and not lesser than that,\u201d Brightman said. \u201cI thought that was a masterful quality in him.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he has heart-to-heart conversations with Summers now or sees him talk to other people about their lives, Brightman said: \u201cHe\u2019s not asking because he\u2019s performing for you. He\u2019s genuinely interested in what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an actor, Summers has mostly been cast as himself on sitcoms and animated shows, though he made a foray into regional theater, playing Vince Fontaine in a 2011 production of \u201cGrease\u201d at the Surflight Theater in Beach Haven, N.J. It was there that he befriended one of his co-stars, Drew Gasparini (now a composer and lyricist whose projects include the musical adaptation of \u201cThe Karate Kid\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Gasparini, a friend of Brightman\u2019s, reconnected him with Summers, who proposed the idea of putting his life story on the stage. Brightman admitted to some skepticism at the time \u2014 \u201cI think you\u2019re interesting, but do you think that would translate to anybody else?\u201d he recalled asking Summers.<\/p>\n
Gradually he and Gasparini were won over by Summers\u2019s seemingly boundless reserve of showbiz stories and the theme of endurance that ran through them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found this core of a sweet, wonderful story of redemption and hope, and never saying no,\u201d Brightman explained. \u201cWhether he was interesting or not didn\u2019t matter \u2014 he is \u2014 but the story became extremely interesting and personal and unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life & Slimes\u201d evolved as the collaborators observed Summers\u2019s strengths and proficiencies. Gasparini, who created the original music for the show, said, \u201cWe quickly pivoted from making him sing 10 songs in the show to making this a one-man play that is supported by musical motifs and themes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Brightman and Gasparini spent weeks interrogating Summers about his personal history, searching for material for the show. \u201cI know when Marc Summers lost his virginity,\u201d Gasparini confided. \u201cThat didn\u2019t make it into the show, but I love that I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cLife & Slimes\u201d was first produced in 2016 at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in Indiana, and has had runs at the Adirondack Theater Festival in Glens Falls, N.Y., the Mt. Gretna Playhouse in Pennsylvania, and the Alleyway Theater in Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n
Over the years, as their individual careers pulled them in different directions, the \u201cLife & Slimes\u201d team members said they had to find motivation in their passion to tell Summers\u2019s story.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was so niche and so weird, about a quirky little corner of television and a person that not everybody has heard of,\u201d said Brightman, who is currently starring in the Broadway revival of \u201cSpamalot\u201d and performing in a workshop for a stage musical adaptation of the TV series \u201cSmash.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, Brightman added, \u201cMarc\u2019s dream is to be onstage, and there\u2019s something about that. He\u2019s not a young dude and he\u2019s being brave enough to be vulnerable onstage for over an hour. To be able to give him that shot, I couldn\u2019t imagine a better outcome for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Despite the nostalgic draw that Summers and \u201cDouble Dare\u201d offer to a certain demographic of theatergoers, no one quite knows what to expect when the show opens in New York, which Brightman called \u201cthe judgy-est place on earth for theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the rehearsal space in Times Square, Summers was working with the show\u2019s director, Chad Rabinovitz, on one of the segments in which the host will interact directly with audience members in a recreation of a \u201cDouble Dare\u201d contest.<\/p>\n
The full set of the show includes a faithful recreation of the old \u201cDouble Dare\u201d stage, including a garishly colored podium for Summers to stand behind, though the \u201cLife & Slimes\u201d creative team was coy about whether they had Nickelodeon\u2019s blessing for the production. \u201cIt is not the story of Nickelodeon,\u201d Rabinovitz said. \u201cIt\u2019s the story of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Summers has lost none of his well-honed aptitude for playing off the unpredictability of a live crowd \u2014 onstage, if he sees a contestant with his hands in his pockets, he is liable to say, \u201cI\u2019d shake your hand, but I can see that you\u2019re busy.\u201d<\/p>\n
As much as he appreciates the opportunity to share his personal journey with audiences, Summers said he is looking forward to engaging with them again in some old \u201cDouble Dare\u201d-style antics and being able to relate to them, finally, as one adult to another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen these people get onstage, they\u2019re orgasmic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s insane to watch. So that\u2019s fun for me. And now I can say things to them that I\u2019ve always wanted to say to them, that I couldn\u2019t say when they were 8 or 9. So we have a lot of fun, we really do. And we get a little messy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rehearsing at a studio space in Times Square earlier this month, Marc Summers was crouched low, engaged in a conversation with God.Read More ›<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"fifu_video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XEZCY95JliY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}