New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
#1New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
Posted: 2/17/18 at 8:32am
This was just announced. Exciting opportunity for children to learn an "old" musical.
The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s creative team, theatrical licensing agent Tams-Witmark, and DC Comics have joined forces to adapt and premiere a TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) version of the 1966 musical It’s A Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman (Superman®
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President of Tams-Witmark, Sargent Aborn, states, “The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati had this wonderful idea to create a TYA version of “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman,” Tams-Witmark and the authors of the show are excited to see the results.”
#2New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
Posted: 2/17/18 at 10:48am
I remember hearing that almost a decade ago, the creative team currently behind RIVERDALE on CW had worked on an updated version of the "Superman" libretto, which would restore the use of main characters other than Superman and Lois Lane; it premiered but was prevented from further productions or licensing.
"Superman" is a decent show, but it comes from a very different time, when superhero iconography had not permeated culture. There had been the serials, and the comic had run for thirty years, but it was kid stuff, disposable. There hadn't been the iconic Christopher Reeve movie, most of all. You put the show up now, and people will ask, "Max Mencken? You sure you don't mean Lex Luthor?"
#3New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
Posted: 2/18/18 at 9:58am
Playwright and comic book fan Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa wrote an all new book for the show, featuring characters that were not in the original including Lex Luthor, Perry White, and even Billy Batson (Captain Marvel). Strouse and Adams added a few songs and shifted the score around to other characters. However, they did not get permission from DC Comics before they did all this. Their license with DC was just for the 1966 show. The authors took the stance that they had the right to do whatever they wanted to the show, including substituting an all new book. DC felt otherwise, and ultimately they won. I read the new script, and I thought it was pretty bad. It didn’t match the score at all.
Updated On: 2/18/18 at 09:58 AM
#4New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
Posted: 2/18/18 at 3:55pm
I got to see the revamped version at the Dallas Theater Center. It was......ok. The first act felt overly long, and most of the fun parts were in the second act. I wish they could have consulted with DC before they decided to make changes so they could have made something closer to the comics. The cast was great tho! Matt Cavenaugh as Clark/Superman, Patricl Cassidy as Max something who was obviously the Luthor substitute, Andrew Keenan-Bolger as whatever the Jimmy Olsen stand in character was (that's how memorable the show was lol). A lot of people had a problem because they cast an African-American actress as Lois Lane, but she was really great in the role. I really wanted to like it, but I was just bored most of the show.
#5New TYA - It's a Bird...Superman
Posted: 2/18/18 at 5:51pmI thought Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s new book for Superman was great and I did not mind that they still weren’t able to use Lex Luthor or Jimmy Olsen. Roberto wrote characters that were more or less those characters with different names. I thought the book was great, the score was charming and the actors were perfect. I was disappointed when it didn’t transfer to Broadway.
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