YOU'VE GOT HATE MAIL - THE PERFECT 3RD DATE

I've always been a believer in an activity themed third date. There's only so much left to say to a person after a few phone calls and a couple of dinners. But if it's too cold out to rollerblade or ride bikes, and you don't want to seem too cheap too soon by taking your date to a movie, try taking them to a show, specifically You've Got Hate Mail.. I caught You've Got Hate Mail at the Triad theater on the Upper West Side a couple of weeks ago, and if the guy/girl you're with enjoys sexual humor, it's the perfect place to take them. The entire show consists of five actors sitting at laptops facing the audience, while they read aloud the emails/texts they're sending to and receiving from each other. It all starts when a cheating husband, played by the show's co-writer Billy Van Zandt, mistakenly sends an email intended for his mistress to his loving and naive wife, played by co-writer Jane Milmore. The communications and miscommunications, intentional and unintentional, that ensue are what drive this hour and a half long show that reminded me a bit of an episode of Three's Company -- if Mr. Roper were banging Janet and Mrs. Roper found out. And there's a reason for the sitcomy vibe of this show - Van Zandt and Milmore have produced and written over 300 hours of television comedy. But with You've Got Hate Mail, there's no laugh track, and they don't need one. The night I was there, the audience laughed at every single line that was meant to be laughed at, and there were a lot of 'em. It's fun, it's funny, and it's $35 a ticket with a two drink minimum. So take someone you're trying to impress, and get all that talking/getting to know you stuff out of your system on the first two dates.

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