Broadway revival of It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman
A Broadway revival of the 1966 musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams and book by David Newman and Robert Benton, may be on the cards.
The show is currently being revived at the Dallas Theater Center and according to the New York Times the producers hope to bring it to Broadway. There has been no official announcement.
In It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman America's most famous Superhero has to defeat mad scientist Dr. Abner Sedgwick who seeks revenge upon the scientific community for its rejection of his 'scientific' acheivements, while contending with a love triangle between Clark Kent, Max Mencken and Lois Lane.
The Dallas Theater Center's revival of It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, directed by Kevin Moriarty, began performances on 18 Jun 2010, where it is running through to 25 Jul 2010. The show stars Matt Cavenaugh as 'Clark Kent/Superman,' Patrick Cassidy as 'Maxwell Menken' and Zakiya Young as 'Lois Lane'.
Dallas theater’s artistic director Kevin Moriarty believes the original Broadway production portrays Superman as 'camp,' which while in the genre of 1960's Super hero's - think 1960's TV series 'Batman' - is now dated. To bring the story more inline with today's portrayal of superheroes playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was asked to revise the story.
Aguirre-Sacasa, who has written stories for Marvel comics Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, jumped at the opportunity and has sought to capture the 1930's DC comic character created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster.
Kevin Moriarty told the NY Times “We wanted to hit a tone that was bright and joyful, not camp, not satire,” Mr. Moriarty said. “Theater artists of my generation have been in an age of irony. This piece is outside of all that.”
The revised version features four new songs by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, including "a Kryptonian lullaby and “Even Men Like You,” in which Lois Lane sings about the benefits of having her as a wife."
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman had its Broadway premiere at the Alvin Theatre (now Neil Simon Theatre), where it played from 9 9 Mar - 17 Jul 1966 where it played 129 regular performances. The show was directed by Harold Prince, choreographed by Ernest Flatt and featured Bob Holiday as 'Clark Kent/Superman,' Jack Cassidy as 'Max Mencken' and Patricia Marand as 'Lois Lane.'
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