And now for something completely insane.
In 1966, a Broadway musical debuted titled ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’. The production was a critical hit, yet it didn’t catch on with audiences as hoped.
Sure the critics might have liked it, but regular Joes were less fussed. And due to the high costs associated with a theatre production, the show struggled to make enough money, closed within three-and-a-half months, and was ultimately deemed a flop.
However, in 1975 the same musical was revived, tweaked, shortened, and turned into a television special. The special aired on ABC in the States and starred David Wilson as Clark Kent/Superman.
Did you watch ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’ when it originally aired in 1975? Well, if the answer is ‘no’ then you made the right choice in life.
‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’ was terrible. The songs were dreadful, the story was dire, and Wilson was a very unconvincing Man of Steel.
The Superman legacy has had highs and lows over the years, but ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’ stands out as just awful. This was an all-singing, all-dancing Superman musical which failed to deliver the pomp and spectacle viewers needed from their action hero, and the tunes were bad enough to make the ears bleed.
In terms of the supporting players, the show featured Lois Lane, Perry White, and The Daily Planet, as well as the Kents. However, there was no Lex Luthor, and instead of a decent villain there was some gangsters and a great deal of faffing about.
In the transformation from Broadway to television special, the show underwent a number of changes, with a significant amount of adjustments made to the story. Some of the original musical numbers were also dropped, while the remaining tunes were given a ’70s reworking.
The only half-way decent part of the production was a scene which saw Lois Lane belting out a ditty about her infatuation with Superman. Oh, and there was a nod to Superman creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, which was at least a respectful way to acknowledge them.
Incidentally, the only character to come out of the show in any decent shape was Lois Lane, as played by the fabulous Lesley Ann Warren. Warren would later audition for the role of Lois for 1978’s Superman: The Movie, a part she lost to Margot Kidder, but based on how she played Lois in ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’, she would have been great in the part.
The crazy thing about ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’ is that it aired in ’75, just three years before Superman: The Movie came along. Tonally, the two couldn’t be more different.
Superman: The Movie took the character seriously. ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’ is just naff, jokey rubbish.
Had Richard Donner’s movie never have happened, then perhaps this sort of musical is how we would view Superman today. Thankfully things panned out much better, and the far more interesting take on Superman reigned supreme.
David Newman, one of the writers on Superman: The Movie wrote the book for the Broadway version of ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’, so maybe this TV travesty had to happen for better things to come next time around. Maybe.
Anyway, should you want to watch ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’, the whole thing usually does the rounds on YouTube. But, it really is best avoided, and there are far better ways to satisfy your Superman craving.
Watching ‘It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!’ is kind of like watching the Star Wars Holiday Special. You watch for curiosity but you certainly don’t watch for pleasure, and if you can make it through from start to finish then you are probably superhuman.
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