It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman
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It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. It is based on the comic book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. The show starred Jack Cassidy (top-billed), Bob Holiday as Clark Kent and Superman, and Patricia Marand as Lois Lane.
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Synopsis
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.
Production
The show opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on March 29, 1966. The production received generally positive reviews, but failed to catch on with the theater-going public and closed on July 17, 1966 after 129 performances. The main theme is the peril of moral relativism; as the song "We Need Him" puts it, "when the world's moral standards grow murky / we need him."
Photo stills can be seen in the documentary "Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman," as well as footage from the TV version.
On May 14, 2007, the Reprise! program in Los Angeles presented a concert version of the musical with Patrick Cassidy in his father's old role as Max Mencken, Cheyenne Jackson as Superman, Jean Louisa Kelly as Lois Lane, Richard Kind as Dr. Sedgwick, and composer Charles Strouse in a special appearance as Perry White, at the Ralph Freud Theatre on the campus of UCLA.
From June 15-17, 2007, the "Musicals in MUFTI" series at the York Theater Company in New York City presented a concert version of the musical. Cheyenne Jackson, Jean Louisa Kelly and composer Charles Strouse reprised their roles from the L.A. concert. The rest of the cast featured Lea DeLaria (Dr. Abner Sedgwick), Shoshana Bean (Sydney), Stan Chandler (Jim Morgan), David Rasche (Max Menken), Michael Winther (La Tete), Scot Federly, Rachel Jones, Rodney Peck, Amy Ryder,and Katherine Von Till. Bob Holiday, the original Broadway Superman, attended the June 16th matinee.
TV special
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman was made into a TV special on February 1, 1975. It was broadcast on the ABC network under its Wide World of Entertainment late-night umbrella title.
It starred David Wilson as Superman/Clark Kent, Lesley Ann Warren as Lois Lane, Loretta Swit as Sydney Carlton, David Wayne as Dr. Abner Sedgwick and Kenneth Mars as Max Mencken.
Original Broadway cast
- Max Mencken: Jack Cassidy
- Jim Morgan: Don Chastain
- Superman/Clark Kent: Bob Holiday
- Lois Lane: Patricia Marand
- Perry White: Eric Mason
- Sydney: Linda Lavin
- Dr. Abner Sedgwick: Michael O'Sullivan
- Father Ling: Jerry Fujikawa
- Suspect #2: Dick Miller
Musical Numbers
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
- Ling Dance - The Flying Lings
- It's Super Nice - Company
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
Influence
Two of the songs have become notable outside of the musical. One, an instrumental version of the song "It's Superman" was used as the introductory music for all the newscasts on WTOP-TV (Channel 9, now WUSA-TV) in Washington, DC, from 1970 until 1982, when the station was called WDVM. The anchors for much of that time were Max Robinson and Gordon Peterson. Meanwhile, the song "You've Got Possibilities" from the musical was featured in a 2005 TV commercial for Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits.