Prepare to get slimed

When green slime comes to mind, what's the first thing you think of?

It just might be a game show, popular a couple of decades ago, that became a symbol of the network that broadcast it.

"Double Dare" became an unlikely hit on Nickelodeon during cable television's infancy, in the mid-1980s. Kids loved it because of the mess it made, with the slime being dumped on people's heads and spread throughout the set.

Recently, "Double Dare" has undergone a revival on Nickelodeon, hosted by Liza Koshy. There's also a stage version with original host Marc Summers, "Double Dare Live," that's touring the country, including a stop on Saturday, May 18, at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

For Summers, it was the need for a job and a bit of luck that got him the original gig on TV.

"I was an out-of-work professional magician and actor trying to get a job in show business," Summers recalls. "Game shows were something that I always wanted to host, and back in the day there was Bob Barker and Richard Dawson, who were a lot older than me.

"A professional ventriloquist actually got the call, and he didn't want to do it. He then called me saying that he never heard of a network called Nickelodeon and asked if I was interested in auditioning for this kids' game show instead of him.

"They auditioned a bunch of people in New York and they didn't like anybody, so they came to Los Angeles. I was the first guy they had audition."

"When we were there, it was all grownups and there was no mess," he says. "I did fairly well, and they kept bringing me back, and after three callbacks it came down to me and another person. They couldn't decide who it was going to be, so I asked what the issue was, and they said, 'Well, we've never seen you guys with kids.' "

Summers encouraged the production company to bring him and the other candidate to New York City and put them in a studio with kids, have them play the game and choose the best host.

"That's what they eventually did, and afterwards I got the job," he says.

It wasn't until the success of "Double Dare" that Summers realized he was part of something special.

"The first time I got to the studio where we were shooting, I saw this gigantic obstacle course with green goo and all this stuff," he says. " ... And they thought it would be funny with all the slime and stuff. I then asked, 'Do you think kids would want to do that?' without having any idea, and they said 'Yeah.'

"It turned into this magnificent phenomenon and over 30 years later, here I am still doing it."

For the upcoming live performance, Summers suggests that people come wearing clothing they wouldn’t mind getting messy. With all the slime that’ll be thrown around, expect some to be coming toward the audience.

"We had a lady recently come on the show wearing a $200 sweater, and she trashed it," Summers says. "When you’re going to the messiest game ever, you have to be prepared for that, so I wouldn’t wear your Sunday best."

"The live version is basically physical challenges," he says. "There are grownups who grew up watching the show and there are kids who have just discovered it. We do a competition with 20 kids against 20 adults and that's act one. During act two, we play a game called musical pies. We get eight people up there and it gets pretty messy."

"We get four families from the audience and then we do a competition to narrow it down to two," Summers explains. "We play 'Double Dare' as seen on TV and we have the obstacle course. If they can complete eight obstacles in 60 seconds or less, they get $1,000. It’s two hours of what you see on TV and more."

If you go ...

What: "Double Dare Live"

When: Saturday, May 18, 7 p.m.

Where: Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence

Tickets: $25-$69.50

Information: (401) 421-2787, ppacri.org