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IT WASN'T KRYPTONITE..... Aug 16, 2010
...that grounded this show. "It's a Bird..It's a Plane..It's Superman" flew into Broadway in March 1966 and flew out by July 1966 which was a shame because the show was essentialy a lot of fun but had many obstacles that blocked its potential including a whiff of homosexuality which audiences in 1966 weren't ready to accept. More on that later.
The biggest of its obstacles was that "Batman" was all the rage that year and perhaps audiences felt if they wanted camp they could get it free weekly on TV. "Superman" wasn't all that campy but it seemed to be.
Another obstacle was Jack Cassidy was the star and he didn't play Superman. He played a suave, narcissistic reporter on the Daily Planet and Linda Lavin was Sydney his wise-cracking, hard-boiled assistant who had a crush on Clark Kent. Together these two walked away with the show and left Superman hanging mid-air in the wings. Even Lois Lane found a new beau in a lab assistant of a mad scientist named Abner who was the shows villain.
The music and lyrics by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams were pleasent enough but gave Jack Cassidy two big numbers "You're the Woman For The Man" and "So Long Big Guy" and Miss Lavin had a number "You've Got Possibilities" where she tries to seduce and nearly strips Superman of his Clark Kent disguise. Another clever number came late in the second act where the entire stage were cubicles made to resemble panels in a comic strip and all the characters each occupied a cube wondering where the missing Man Of Steel was,(It's Superman).
Now comes the whiff of homosexuality I mentioned earlier. Jack Cassidys character, Max Mencken teams up with the mad scientist, Abner Sedgwick and together they share a mutual admiration number "You"ve Got What I Need" where they call each other "baby" "lovey" and "cookie" and even a little light in the loafers dance together. The song was not at all offensive but the theatre-going audiences were a little different in those days. Most shows survived on theatre parties usually arranged by white-haired matrons whose tastes and sensibilities ran to much lighter and innocent fare such as "Hello Dolly",
Whatever the reason for the failure of "It's A Bird..It's A Plane...It's Superman" may never be known but another clue might be that the character of Superman was under-used.
But the authors of the book of the show got the last laugh when 12 years later they wrote the screenplay for the Christopher Reeve "Superman".
 sassy "Superman" musical oddity Apr 28, 2010
As a collector of Broadway cast albums and show music in general, I especially love the "flop shows", so when the CD of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' IT'S A BIRD...IT'S A PLANE...IT'S SUPERMAN recently flew my way, I eagerly popped it into the player, aware of it's place as one of the great cult musicals of the 1960's.
Happily it appeals (especially the numbers involving Jack Cassidy, Patricia Marand and Linda Lavin), but a good deal of the material falls flat, particularly the ensemble numbers (and sadly) much of Superman/Clark Kent's material, even though Bob Holiday puts his all into the role. It's worrying indeed when a SUPERMAN musical isn't dominated by the man of steel himself, but by his supporting players!
If you're a fan of Jack Cassidy you'll appreciate his hammy turn as the Daily Planet's flamboyant theater columnist; Linda Lavin is his secretary (complete with two of the score's boffo hits, "You've Got Possibilities and "Ooh, Do You Love You!"). Darling Patricia Marand is Lois Lane. IT'S A BIRD...IT'S A PLANE...IT'S SUPERMAN soared along for 129 performances. It's not the greatest thing ever written, but it's a fun spin.
 I Like Superman, but..... Aug 10, 2009
...I am a little hard-pressed, to enthusiastically recommend this soundtrack of the original Broadway Cast of "It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman". Not that any of the performers are at fault, they've all got good voices, and are at least competent or better. But most of the songs (written and composed by the same men who brought us "Bye Bye Birdie"), are almost completely unmemorable. The only one to have ANY kind of limited life outside of the show was "You've Got Possibilities", (although I DID like Lois Lane's love ballad "It's Superman" a little, I found the Melody appealing. But that was the only one of Lois' Songs I liked). And what's with all this Max Mencken stuff? I like Jack Cassidy as a performer very much, but He dominates the soundtrack and the plot of the play almost to the point where You get the feeling Max Mencken is the MAIN CHARACTER, NOT SUPERMAN!!! I never heard of any Max Mencken in the "Superman" Comics. There is no Jimmy Olsen in this play, no Lex Luthor, Perry White BARELY appears in the show. The villains are rather ridiculously wimpy and ineffectual (Dr. Sedgwick, etc.). I think I can see why this show didn't "make it" in the annals of Broadway Musicals. I'm not saying "definitely DON'T buy it", I'm just saying don't get your hopes too high on this product if You are a BIG Superman fan. (Jerry Seinfeld, are You listening?).
 It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Superman!! Aug 01, 2008
I've loved this album for about 40 years now. Thrilled to have it on CD.
Complications, accusations, cheap sensations, foundations Jun 04, 2008
I welcomed this score back into my life through the CD. This show was reissued by Columbia on vinyl in the 1970s. Listening to it, I couldn't believe it was a flop. (The overture is as good as All American.) My father suggested it opened just as the pop art fad was fading, and thus nobody wanted to see it just for the score, which is probably Strouse and Adams' best. The songs are almost insanely memorable, especially the ones written for Clark and Lois. The problem is that having two villians -- one of them Jack Cassidy -- threw the balance off, so the show isn't enough about Superman. This issue boasts some recordings of the writers singing songs deleted or slightly revised for the show, and thus it's a great gift for theater buffs.
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