UP IN THE SKY

 

SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK, with book by Julie Taymor, Glen Berger and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge, had 182 previews and 1,066 performances at the Lyric Theatre (known at the time as the Foxwoods Theatre) on 42^nd Street from Nov 28, 2010 to Jan 04, 2014, was, at the time, the most expensive Broadway production in history.  It also gained a reputation for having a Macbeth-esque curse.
 
But Spiderman was not the first comic book super-hero to appear on the Great White Way.  In March through July of 1966 IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S SUPERMAN ran for 19 previews and 129 performances at the Alvin Theatre.  I was in the audience for one of these performances.
 
This musical had a more traditional Broadway pedigree than the Spiderman adaptation.  Music and lyrics were by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (ANNIE, APPLAUSE, BYE BYE BIRDIE, etc), and it was produced and directed by Hal Prince.   
 
While it had Lois Lane, there was no Lex Luthor.  The villains of the piece were a mad scientist and the Daily Planet’s Winchell-esque gossip columnist Max Mencken, played by Broadway veteran Jack Cassidy (father of “Tiger Beat” favs David and Shaun and husband of Partridge Family mom Shirley Jones).  Clark Kent, aka Superman, was played by Bob Holiday.
 
Coincidently, Holiday eventually left acting to become a premier home developer in the Lake Wallenpaupack Area, living, and passing away in 2017, in my current home town of Hawley, PA.
 
Also in the cast, as Cassidy’s assistant, was Linda Lavin, who would go on to fame on the small screen as Alice, a waitress at Mel’s Diner. Appropriately initialed for the “Silver Age” Superman, LL sang the show’s one contribution to the Great American Songbook – “You’ve Got Possibilities” – which was featured a few years back in a Pillsbury Doughboy commercial.
 
According to the Superman Supersite –
 
“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.”
 
FYI, while I have a good memory, and I do still have my original Playbill from the production, I used a special online source to research this post.  To find out everything you always wanted to know about Broadway go the Internet Broadway Database (IBDB).  The IBDB archive is the official database for Broadway theatre information.
 
IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today. Details include pertinent people involved as well as interesting facts and production statistics.
 
Get a list of every production of Hamlet on Broadway or a list of your favorite actor's credits. Or find out what shows opened in a specific Broadway season.   
 
BFN