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
Music	Charles Strouse
Lyrics	Lee Adams
Book	David Newman Robert Benton
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 Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with a book by David Newman and Robert Benson. 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 1 Production 2 Roles 3 Musical Numbers 4 Trivia 5 External links 6 References

[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".^[2]

[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.

[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

1. ^ Sony CD liner notes p. 12, http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/superman.htm
2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499516/

Superman in popular media
Actors:	Bud Collyer • Kirk Alyn • George Reeves • Danny Dark • Christopher Reeve • Beau Weaver • John Haymes Newton • Gerard Christopher • Dean Cain • Timothy Daly • Tom Welling • George Newbern • Brandon Routh
Film:	Superman (1948) • Atom Man vs. Superman • Superman and the Mole Men • Superman (1978) • Superman II • Superman III • Supergirl • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace • Superman Returns • Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Television:	Adventures of Superman • Superboy • Lois & Clark • Smallville • Look, Up in the Sky!
Animation:	1940s cartoons • The New Adventures of Superman • Superman • Superman: The Animated Series • Legion of Super Heroes
Other media:	Radio • Broadway Theater • Newspaper Strips