Perhaps emboldened by the plans for Julie Taymor's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, it seems there are now plans to revive the 1966 Broadway Musical It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman. The revival is being written by playwright and comic author Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and directed by Kevin Moriarty, as was revealed by MTV News.
The original 1966 Broadway version of the show featured music from Charles Strouse and Lee Adams with a book by David Newman and Robert Benton. Aguirre-Sacasa and Moriarty have acquired the rights to create a new book, meaning that there will be a different plot and script this time around, and the show will feature brand new special effects.
In the original show, which was made into an ABC television special in 1975, Superman faced off against a Lex Luthor clone named Dr. Abner Sedgwick, while fending off rival reporter Max Mencken for Lois Lane's affections. The new script for It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman will show the Man of Steel facing off against an entire team of super villains, and will most likely feature a more contemporary tone, possibly with Lois Lane and Clark Kent already being married.
When announcing the musical, Moriarty was quick to emphasize the fact that the revival will feature a new take on the material, and will be influenced by the Superman comics of today, instead of reflecting 1960's sensibilities of the Last Son of Krypton. "There'll be nothing mild-mannered about this action-packed show," Moriarty said.
Who knows? If It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman has a successful run in the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, perhaps a return to Broadway would be possible. Maybe theatrically inclined superhero fans could be faced with a choice between going to see It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. And if that is the case, can a Batman musical be far off? After all, one was planned in 2005, with Tim Burton, David Ives and Jim Steinman attached to direct, write and provide the music.
It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman stars Hassan El-Amin, Sean Hennigan and Cedric Neal, and runs from June 18 to July 25, 2009.