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 | ||
| Original Broadway Production | ||
|---|---|---|
 Original Broadway Cast Recording |
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| Music | Charles Strouse | |
| Lyrics | Lee Adams | |
| Book | David Newman Robert Benton |
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| Theatre | Alvin Theatre | |
| Opened | March 29, 1966 | |
| Closed | July 17, 1966 | |
| Director | Harold Prince | |
| Choreographer | Betty Walberg | |
| Scenic designer | Robert Randolph | |
| Lighting designer | Robert Randolph | |
| Originally starring | Bob Holiday Jack Cassidy Patricia Marand |
|
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 Bob Holiday as Clark Kent and Superman, and Patricia Marand as Lois Lane.
Contents |
[edit] 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."[1]
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.
[edit] Roles
- Superman/Clark Kent: Bob Holiday
- Max Mencken: Jack Cassidy
- Lois Lane: Patricia Marand
- Perry White: Eric Mason
- Sydney: Linda Lavin
- Dr. Abner Sedgwick: Michael O'Sullivan
- Jim Morgan: Don Chastain
- Father Ling: Jerry Fujikawa
- Dong Ling: Bill Starr
- Tai Ling: Murphy James
- Fan Po Ling: Julieste Salve
- Ming Foo Ling: Michael Gentry
- Joe Ling: Joseph Gentry
[edit] Musical Numbers
ACT 1
- 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)
- "It's Super Nice" (Company)
- Entr'acte (Orchestra)
ACT 2
- "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)
[edit] Trivia
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, in the late 1960s until the early 1980s, when the station was called WDVM.. The anchors for much of that time were Max Robinson and Gordon Peterson.
The song "You've Got Possibilities" from the musical was featured in a 2005 TV commercial for Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits.
[edit] External links
- It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman at The Internet Broadway Database
- It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman at the Internet Movie Database for the 1975 TV production
- Lyrics
- Charles Strouse & Lee Adams (1966). It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (Original Cast CD). Sony. ISBN B0000027WB.
[edit] References
- ^ Sony CD liner notes p. 12, http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/superman.htm
