| It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman | |
|---|---|
 Original Broadway cast recording | |
| Music | Charles Strouse |
| Lyrics | Lee Adams |
| Book | David Newman Robert Benton |
| Basis | |
| Productions | 1966Broadway 1975ABC TV special 2007Los Angeles Concert 2010Dallas 2013New York CityEncores! 2014London 2015West End 2016Germany |
It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman is a 1966musical composed byCharles Strouse, withlyrics byLee Adams andbook byDavid Newman andRobert Benton. It is based on the comic book characterSuperman created byJerry Siegel andJoe Shuster and published byDC Comics.
While the show's originalBroadway run was well-reviewed, it did not catch on with audiences. Closing after three and a half months and costing an unprecedented $600,000, the show wasBroadway's biggest flop at the time.[1] These numbers have been disputed, with Hal Prince reporting that the show was capitalized at $400,000; other shows had proven to be bigger flops.[2]
The plot revolves around Superman's efforts to defeat Dr. Abner Sedgwick, a ten-timeNobel Prize-losing scientist who seeks to avenge the scientific world's dismissal of his brilliance by attempting to destroy the world's symbol of good. Additionally, Superman comes into romantic conflict with Max Mencken, a columnist for theDaily Planet newspaper, who resentsLois Lane's attraction to Superman, and later teams up with Sedgwick to destroy Superman.
The musical opened onBroadway at theAlvin Theatre on March 29, 1966.[3] Directed byHarold Prince with choreography byErnie Flatt, it starredBob Holiday asClark Kent andSuperman,Patricia Marand asLois Lane,Jack Cassidy as Max Mencken, andLinda Lavin as Sydney.[4] The production received generally positive reviews, but it failed to catch on with the theater-going public and closed on July 17, 1966, after 129 performances.[1] The musical received threeTony Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Musical (Cassidy), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael O'Sullivan, playing the main villain), and Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Marand). One of the songs from the score, "You've Got Possibilities" (introduced by Lavin), had some success outside the show as a nightclub and cabaret standard. According to composer Charles Strouse, the official title of the show includes quotation marks:"It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman"; the program for the show does not include ellipses.
Two productions were staged the next year. Both the St. Louis Municipal Opera and the Kansas City Starlight Theatre (in 1966, titledSuperman)[5] re-staged the show, and Bob Holiday played Superman in both productions. Each was an open-air venue, requiring the use of a large crane to facilitate Superman's flights. Other cast members in these two productions wereKaren Morrow as Sydney andCharles Nelson Reilly as Dr. Sedgwick.[6]
The show was produced at theGoodspeed Opera House,East Haddam,Connecticut, from June through July 3, 1992, with Gary Jackson (as Superman), Jamie Ross,Veanne Cox and Gabriel Barre.[7]
On May 14, 2007, theReprise! Marvelous Musical Mondays program inLos Angeles presented a concert version of the musical. The cast featuredCheyenne Jackson as Superman,Jean Louisa Kelly as Lois Lane,Richard Kind as Dr. Sedgwick,Patrick Cassidy in his father's old role of Max Mencken, and composerCharles Strouse in a special appearance as Perry White.[8] From June 15–17, the musical was presented in concert by theYork Theatre'sMusicals at MUFTI series in New York City, with Jackson, Kelly, and Strouse reprising their roles from the Los Angeles concert. Others in the cast includedLea DeLaria as Dr. Sedgwick,Shoshana Bean as Sydney, andDavid Rasche as Max Mencken.[9] Bob Holiday, the original Broadway Superman, attended the June 16 matinee.
From June 18 to July 25, 2010, theDallas Theater Center presented a revised version ofIt's a Bird..., starringMatt Cavenaugh in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Zakiya Young as Lois Lane, Patrick Cassidy as Max Mencken, and Cavenaugh's real life wifeJenny Powers as Sydney Sharp (Cassidy developed laryngitis during the run of the show, and choreographer Joel Ferrell took over the role until Cassidy recovered). The new book for the show was written by playwright and comic book writerRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa.[10] Kevin Moriarty, the Dallas Theater's artistic director, believed that the show's campy,pop art-inflected book had "not dated well" and approached Charles Strouse in 2008 for permission to revise the musical.[11] Strouse acquiesced, and Moriarty hired Aguirre-Sacasa, a "lifelong fan" of the musical. Aguirre-Sacasa moved the musical's setting to 1939, and made the show's primary focus the "love triangle" between Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Superman. Songs were cut, new songs were commissioned, and the order of songs was changed.[12] In November 2009, Moriarty and Aguirre-Sacasa held a private reading of the revised book with the show's surviving creators, Strouse, Adams, and Benton.[13]
A staged concert production took place as part ofNew York City Center'sEncores! series from March 20–24, 2013. The cast included Edward Watts as Superman andWill Swenson as Max Mencken, withJenny Powers playing Lois Lane. Powers had played Sydney Sharp in the 2010 Dallas revival.[14] On March 23,Bob Holiday, who originated the role of Superman on Broadway, attended the show and met with the cast.[15]
The show's UK premiere was played in London in March 2014 at Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre and was produced by All Star Productions.[16] After positive reviews, "the real star of the show is Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' delightful score..." wrote the musicaltheatrereview.com,[16] the show transferred to the Leicester Square Theatre in theWest End for a limited run in February 2015.[17][18]
In September 2016, there was the first production in the German language in Braunschweig, Germany. The OnStage - school of musical is producing the German Premiere at the Brunsviga.
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman was made into a TV special which first aired during a late night timeslot on ABC on February 21, 1975.[19] Filmed on video over the course of 3 days,[20] the show was significantly shortened, the script significantly changed, and the ethnicity of a troupe of evildoers was changed from Chinese acrobats to Mafia-style gangsters. The musical numbers "Doing Good", "It's Super Nice", "So Long, Big Guy" and "We Don't Matter at All" were all dropped from this production, while the sound of the remaining musical numbers was updated to a more contemporary 1970s sensibility. In addition to these, a new musical number was made for the TV special: "It's a Great Country".[20] The show was broadcast on theABC network under itsWide World of Entertainment late-night umbrella title to poor critical reception. It starred David Wilson as Superman/Clark Kent,Lesley Ann Warren as Lois Lane,Loretta Swit as Sydney,David Wayne as Dr. Abner Sedgwick,Allen Ludden as Perry White,Kenneth Mars as Max Mencken, andGary Owens as theold-time radio-stylevoiceover narrator. Viewers of this remake felt that the TV production lacked the energy of the original Broadway show.[21]
| Role | Actor | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadway (1966)[22] | ABC-TV special (1975)[23][24] | Encores! (2013)[25][26] | West End (2015) | |
| Max Mencken | Jack Cassidy | Kenneth Mars | Will Swenson | Paul Harwood |
| Dr. Abner Sedgwick | Michael O'Sullivan | David Wayne | David Pittu | Matthew Ibbotson |
| Superman /Clark Kent | Bob Holiday | David Wilson | Edward Watts | Craig Berry |
| Lois Lane | Patricia Marand | Lesley Ann Warren | Jenny Powers | Michelle LaFortune |
| Jim Morgan | Don Chastain | Adam Monley | Charlie Vose | |
| Sydney | Linda Lavin | Loretta Swit | Alli Mauzey | Sarah Kennedy |
| Joe Ling | Joseph Gentry | |||
| Father Ling | Jerry Fujikawa | Malachi Throne[a] | James Saito | Jonathan Chan |
| Ming Foo Ling | Michael Gentry | Jade Nelson | ||
| Tai Ling | Murphy James | Christina Harris | ||
| Perry White | Eric Mason | Allen Ludden | Andrew Truluck | |
| Fan Po Ling | Juleste Salve | Thomas Widdop | ||
| Dong Ling | Bill Starr | Jonathan Chan | ||
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"You've Got Possibilities" is generally considered the show's most memorable tune, and is the only one to be often performed outside the show.[27][28] It was recorded in 1966 byPeggy Lee (on the albumBig $pender)[29] andMatt Monro (on the albumHere's to My Lady),[30] and has been performed and recorded by many other singers. It was also featured in a 2005 TV commercial forPillsbury Grands! Biscuits.[31]
The final part of the overture that featured thetitle song from the original cast album was used as the opening and closing theme music for all the newscasts on WTOP-TV/WDVM-TV (Channel 9, nowWUSA-TV) in Washington, DC, from 1970 until 1982, along with a handful of other stations, most prominently New York City independent stationWPIX-TV.[31]
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Jack Cassidy | Nominated |
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Michael O'Sullivan | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Patricia Marand | Nominated |
"Possibilities", the one number from the score that has had any significant afterlife.