As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
#1As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/27/13 at 5:46pm
Hi, all. Longtime lurker here...going back to 2004 or so. I understand that it's usually frowned upon for someone to post a piece of their own, but I think that this might start a larger discussion. (Or, I hope it will!) I've just started a blog on the intersection of the legit stage with pop culture at large. Not just on adaptation, but eventually on mutual influence.
Anyway, my first piece is on the troubled history of superheroes onstage, and my thoughts--as an obsessive fan of both comics and musicals--on why these shows have failed. (In Spider-Man's case, beyond the obvious bile-spewing that we're used to hearing). I also delve into some aborted projects.
Any thoughts on these shows, or what might have been? Let me know if you see anything that I got anything glaringly wrong. I know some of you were there for the original Superman!
http://theatreblurred.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/superheromusicals/
Updated On: 12/27/13 at 05:46 PM
#2As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/27/13 at 6:10pmWhoops! Link fixed.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#2As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/27/13 at 10:43pm
Would Tarzan count as a super hero? I'm not really versed in what constitutes one. In any case, there was a bad musical about him. How about Casper, the friendly ghost? Chita Rivera toured in a musical about him. I didn't get to see that one.
You might want to investigate Starmites, a dreadful 1989 comic-book musical that somehow managed to receive a Tony nomination for Best Musical.
Personally, I liked Superman. Not Spider-man, though, in any of its incarnations.
As for the tv version of Batman, Tallulah Bankhead, Eartha Kidd, and Cesar Romero camped it up royally, providing the sole amusement in an otherwse witless endeavor.
"They would never see what comic books are capable of. "
Actually, what are they capable of?
Updated On: 12/27/13 at 10:43 PM
#3As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/27/13 at 11:08pm
Don't forget that Ethel Merman guest stared on Batman!
Dan what super hero would you like to see on Broadway next?
Third times the charm...
#4As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/27/13 at 11:28pmTime, the notorious sci-fi musical with the projected semi-holographic head, was a knockoff of Doctor Who with the most obvious features renamed. There were still obvious Time Lords and companions, a Gallifrey-like planet, and more classic Who iconography.
#5As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/28/13 at 4:20pm
SidebySide, I had forgotten about the Merm on Batman.
And I would actually really love to see an earnest, heightened take on Batman. I think going back to the 1930s and going down a noir detective route could be really effective. You've got some very innate theatricality with the Joker, and there's a lot of room for Follies-esque "ghost" staging with young Bruce Wayne. At the same time, it would break my heart to see that character done dead wrong more than any other...
After Eight, I personally wouldn't count Tarzan, though the character does share a lot of pulp DNA with comic book superheroes. And yes, that show was truly dismal! I can't remember the last time I gave it a thought. Awful.
As for comics...well, it's a big topic to essentialize. But there are two wonderful books by Scott McCloud on the specific advantages to graphic storytelling: Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics. I think that it's always easy for us to dismiss an art form as trash if we haven't spent a lot of time with it, and aren't really familiar with what it's really doing. I'm guilty of that with video games, I'm sure. It's why rock and roll sounded like noise to boomers' parents, etc. Comic books are able to manipulate their storytelling in infinitely variable ways. The side-by-side juxtaposition of images can provoke specific associations and emotions in a way that is truly unique. Chronology can be controlled and played with, etc., etc. Of course, if we're talking strictly about superheroes, that's a unique barrel of monkeys. A lot of people would argue that they are the closest thing America has to mythology. While I think that's a little hyperbolic, there's an argument to be made...
jdavisinaustin
Swing Joined: 7/9/12
#6As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/28/13 at 5:15pmVery interesting read, OP. Thanks for sharing.
#7As SPIDER-MAN swings off, a look back at superhero musicals.
Posted: 12/28/13 at 8:49pmThanks for reading!
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