It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman

The plot revolves around Superman's efforts to defeat Dr. Abner Sedgwick, a ten-time Nobel 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 the Daily Planet newspaper, who resents Lois Lane's attraction to Superman, and later teams up with Sedgwick to destroy Superman.

The musical opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on March 29, 1966.{{cite news |work=Comic Book Resources |first=Brian |last=Cronin |title=The Man of Steel returns to the musical stage |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=24851 |date=February 15, 2010 |access-date=February 16, 2010}} Directed by Harold Prince with choreography by Ernie Flatt, it starred Bob Holiday as Clark Kent and Superman, Patricia Marand as Lois Lane, Jack Cassidy as Max Mencken, and Linda Lavin as Sydney.{{cite book |last1=Eury |first1=Michael |title=The Krypton Companion |date=2006 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781893905610 |page=75}} 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. The musical received three Tony 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, titled Superman)[https://www.kcstarlight.com/about-us/history/broadway-shows "History, 1960s"] kcstarlight.com, retrieved December 13, 2017 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 were Karen Morrow as Sydney and Charles Nelson Reilly as Dr. Sedgwick.Bob Holiday and Chuck Harter, Superman on Broadway, c. 2003

The show was produced at the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut, from June through July 3, 1992, with Gary Jackson (as Superman), Jamie Ross, Veanne Cox and Gabriel Barre.Holden, Stephen. [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/20/theater/review-theater-superman-as-dimwit-in-1966-parable.html?pagewanted= "Review/Theater; Superman as Dimwit in 1966 Parable"], The New York Times, June 20, 1992, retrieved December 13, 2017

On May 14, 2007, the Reprise! Marvelous Musical Mondays program in Los Angeles presented a concert version of the musical. The cast featured Cheyenne 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 composer Charles Strouse in a special appearance as Perry White.Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/article/superman-concert-with-cassidy-kind-and-jackson-presented-may-14-com-140749# "Superman! Concert — with Cassidy, Kind and Jackson — Presented May 14"] Playbill, May 14, 2007, retrieved December 13, 2017 From June 15–17, the musical was presented in concert by the York Theatre's Musicals at MUFTI series in New York City, with Jackson, Kelly, and Strouse reprising their roles from the Los Angeles concert. Others in the cast included Lea DeLaria as Dr. Sedgwick, Shoshana Bean as Sydney, and David Rasche as Max Mencken.Gans, Andrew. [https://archive.today/20120909015203/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/108837.html Jackson Is Man of Steel in Mufti It's a Bird. . . It's a Plane. . . It's Superman, June 15-17"], playbill.com, June 15, 2007. Bob Holiday, the original Broadway Superman, attended the June 16 matinee.

From June 18 to July 25, 2010, the Dallas Theater Center presented a revised version of It's a Bird..., starring Matt Cavenaugh in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Zakiya Young as Lois Lane, Patrick Cassidy as Max Mencken, and Cavenaugh's real life wife Jenny 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 writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Wilonsky |work=Unfair Park |publisher=Dallas Observer |title=A Musical Even the Fanboys Are Geeked Over: A Word With DTC's It's Superman Writer |url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/02/a_musical_even_the_fanboys_are.php |date=February 15, 2010 |access-date=February 16, 2010}} 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.{{cite news |last=Wilonsky |first=Robert |url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/04/the_defining_moment_of_superhe.php |title=The Singing Superman: DTC's Kevin Moriarty Talks About Tackling the Man of Steel |work=Dallas Observer |date=April 17, 2009 |access-date=January 16, 2010}} 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.{{cite web|last=Taitte |first=Lawson |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/062710dngdsuperman.dcee3680.html |title=Theater review: Dallas Theater Center's reshaped 'Superman' is almost super | Lawson Taitte Columns and Reviews - Entertainment News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News |publisher=Dallasnews.com |date=2010-06-26 |access-date=2011-01-30}} 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.{{cite news |last=Wilonsky |first=Robert |url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/11/when_i_look_back_to.php |title=Up, Up and Away: DTC's Kevin Moriarty on the Status of the "New" Superman Musical |work=Dallas Observer |date=November 23, 2009 |access-date=January 16, 2010}}

A staged concert production took place as part of New York City Center's Encores! series from March 20–24, 2013. The cast included Edward Watts as Superman and Will Swenson as Max Mencken, with Jenny Powers playing Lois Lane. Powers had played Sydney Sharp in the 2010 Dallas revival.[http://www.nycitycenter.org/tickets/productionNew.aspx?performanceNumber=6631 New York City Center "Encores!"] Nycitycenter.org On March 23, Bob Holiday, who originated the role of Superman on Broadway, attended the show and met with the cast.[http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Original-Broadway-Superman-Bob-Holiday-Visits-Encores-ITS-A-BIRDITS-A-PLANEITS-SUPERMAN-20130324#] broadwayworld.com

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.[http://musicaltheatrereview.com/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-superman-ye-olde-rose-and-crown-theatre/ "'It's a Bird… It's a Plane… It's Superman' – Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre"] musicaltheatrereview.com, March 8, 2014 After positive reviews, "the real star of the show is Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' delightful score..." wrote the musicaltheatrereview.com, the show transferred to the Leicester Square Theatre in the West End for a limited run in February 2015.[https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/superman-musical-transfers-to-leicester-square-theatre?_ga=2.134229621.522442467.1513169748-1833703405.1513169748 "Superman musical transfers to Leicester Square Theatre"] londontheatre.co.uk, 4 August 2014[http://www.whatsonstage.com/off-west-end-theatre/shows/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-superman_41059/ It's a Bird… It's a Plane… It's Superman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213204701/http://www.whatsonstage.com/off-west-end-theatre/shows/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-superman_41059/ |date=December 13, 2017}} whatsonstage.com, retrieved December 13, 2017

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.

File:Itsabird-tv.jpg as Superman and Lois Lane in ABC's 1975 TV production of the musical.]]

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.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30877495/superman_musical_1975/ |title=Great Caesar's ghost! It's Superman! |author=Doussard, James |date=January 23, 1975 |newspaper=The Courier-Journal |location=Louisville, Kentucky |access-date=12 August 2019}} Filmed on video over the course of 3 days,{{cite book|last1=Scivally|first1=Bruce|title=Superman on Film, Television, Radio and Broadway|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786431663|page=70}} 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". The show was broadcast on the ABC network under its Wide 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, and Gary Owens as the old-time radio-style voiceover narrator. Viewers of this remake felt that the TV production lacked the energy of the original Broadway show.{{IMDb title |id=tt0339210}}

;Notes

{{notelist}}

;Broadway (1966)

• William, the Exchange Student – Haruki Fujimoto
• Suspect #2 – Dick Miller
• Kirby Wire Operator/made Superman/Bob Holiday fly - Big Jim Saunders

;West End (2015)

• Ding Ling - William M. Lee
• Ensemble / Dance Captain – Charlotte Debattista
• Ensemble - Vicky Longley

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

;Act I

• Overture - Orchestra, Superman, Lois
• "Doing Good" - Superman
• "We Need Him" - Company, Lois, Max, Superman
• "It's Superman" - Lois
• "We Don't Matter at All" - Jim, Lois
• "Revenge" - Dr. Sedgwick
• "The Woman for the Man" - Max, Lois
• "You've Got Possibilities" - Sydney
• "What I've Always Wanted" - Lois
• "Everything's Easy When You Know How" - The Flying Lings
• "Revenge" (reprise) - Dr. Sedgwick
• "It's Super Nice" - Company

{{col-break}}

;Act II

• Entr'acte - Orchestra
• "So Long Big Guy" - Max
• "The Strongest Man in the World" - Superman
• "Ooh, Do You Love You?" - Sydney
• "You've Got What I Need" - Dr. Sedgwick, Max
• "It's Superman" (reprise) - Lois, Superman, Sydney, Max, The Flying Lings, Jim, Company
• "I'm Not Finished Yet" - Lois
• "Pow! Bam! Zonk!" - Superman, The Flying Lings
• Finale - Company

{{col-end}}

"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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/theater/reviews/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-superman-at-city-center.html|title=He's the Man of Steel, as Well as a Man of Song|author=Ben Brantley|date=March 21, 2013|work=New York Times|access-date=February 14, 2017|quote="Possibilities", the one number from the score that has had any significant afterlife.}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2010/legit/news/it-s-a-bird-it-s-a-plane-it-s-superman-1117943076/|title=Review: 'It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!'|author=Joe Leydon|date=June 28, 2010|work=Variety|access-date=February 14, 2017}} It was recorded in 1966 by Peggy Lee (on the album Big $pender){{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Peggy-Lee-Come-Back-To-Me-Youve-Got-Possibilities/release/4895457|title=Peggy Lee – Come Back To Me / You've Got Possibilities|work=Discogs|date=1966 |access-date=February 14, 2017}} and Matt Monro (on the album Here's to My Lady),{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Matt-Monro-Heres-To-My-Lady/master/393661|title= Matt Monro – Here's To My Lady|work=Discogs|date= 1967|access-date=February 14, 2017}} and has been performed and recorded by many other singers. It was also featured in a 2005 TV commercial for Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits.{{cite web|url=http://screenrant.com/superman-actors-trivia-list/|title=16 Actors Who Have Portrayed Superman|author=Paul Young|date=June 15, 2014|work=ScreenRants|access-date=February 15, 2017}}

The final part of the overture that featured the title 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, now WUSA-TV) in Washington, DC, from 1970 until 1982, along with a handful of other stations, most prominently New York City independent station WPIX-TV.

{{Reflist}}

• {{ibdb title|id=3137}}
• {{IMDb title|id=0339210}} for the 1975 TV production
• [http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/superman.htm Lyrics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301045438/http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/superman.htm |date=March 1, 2010}}
• [http://www.SupermanBobHoliday.com Bob Holiday's web site]

{{Superman in other media}}

{{DC Comics TV|It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman}}

{{Charles Strouse}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman}}

Category:1966 books

Category:1966 musicals

Category:Broadway musicals

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Category:Musicals by Charles Strouse

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Category:Superman music

Category:Superman television series

Category:West End musicals