Dear Theater Fans, Looking for love? How about a nostalgia fix? Well, you've come to the right place! It's Valentine's Day, so let's start with Nina Conti's "The Dating Show," which begins performances tonight at SoHo Playhouse. Conti really shows off her "wizardry as a ventriloquist" and "brilliance as an improviser" at these largely ad-libbed performances, Elisabeth Vincentelli explained. Conti asks for a volunteer, who is fitted with a movable mask that covers the lower half of the person's face. She then manipulates the mask as she supplies voices — "essentially turning the volunteers into live puppets." Things can "go off the rails," and that's even before her puppet joins in on the fun! Marc Summers signed off as host of the original "Double Dare" in 1993, but his "toothy smile and exuberant cadence still make him easily recognizable" to those (yes, that includes me!) who watched that Nickelodeon trivia/messy obstacle course show. He spoke with Dave Itzkoff about "Double Dare," his "unpredictable showbiz career" and the new Off Broadway show in which he revisits it all: "The Life & Slimes of Marc Summers," written by Alex Brightman and beginning previews tonight at New World Stages. The playwright Lucas Hnath has a longtime interest in sound and "a more recent history of building shows around disembodied voices." Those shows include "Dana H." and "A Simulacrum," and now, as a director, "I Love You So Much I Could Die," written by Mona Pirnot, who performs songs with her back to the audience while relying on a computer to speak her words. "There's part of me that, deep down, is a frustrated composer," Hnath told Michael Paulson recently. "My first love was music, and I always wanted to compose music." He enjoys "the level of control" and being able to "build it so it does not change and it's exactly what I mean." ● Critic's Pick: In his review of "The Apiary," Jesse Green called it "a bright, strange and mesmerizing marvel." The Off Off Broadway play, about three women doing "palliative care" with the bees that remain alive after a near worldwide colony collapse, is by Kate Douglas, who is making her professional playwriting debut. The cast of four, including Carmen M. Herlihy and April Matthis, is sublime. ● Return engagements: We learned this week that Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's "Appropriate" (also designated a Critic's Pick by Jesse) will transfer to the Belasco Theater in late March, for a limited run through June. The play, starring Sarah Paulson, is currently at Second Stage's Helen Hayes Theater through March 3. Laura Collins-Hughes wrote glowingly about David Greenspan's "wild ride of a performance" in "On Set With Theda Bara" when it was first staged last year at the Brick, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "Identity is slippery in this play," Laura wrote about Joey Merlo's campy, comic solo show, which is back onstage at the Brick through March 9. I have to admit to going down a bit of a rabbit hole yesterday while editing Elisabeth's piece on Nina Conti. Elisabeth provides numerous video clips of Conti's act. I couldn't have laughed harder. Here's one, which Elisabeth described as one of her best routines.
Please reach out to me at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com with suggestions for stories or to offer your thoughts on what you've read. I'll make note of them in an upcoming newsletter. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter by clicking here. Have a wonderful week, Nicole Herrington Theater Editor (@nikkih04)
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