About the work
It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman is a musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and a book by David Newman and Robert Benton, based on the comic-book character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. It premiered on Broadway on 29 March 1966 at the Alvin Theatre, directed by Harold Prince.
Plot
Dr. Abner Sedgwick, a ten-time Nobel Prize also-ran, seeks revenge on the world's symbol of goodness and allies himself with the jealous gossip columnist Max Mencken. At the same time, a love triangle unfolds between Superman, reporter Lois Lane and Mencken.
Cultural significance
Despite largely positive reviews, the production flopped commercially and closed after 129 performances, even though it received three Tony nominations. The song "You've Got Possibilities" outlived the show as a cabaret number; later reworkings followed at, among others, the Dallas Theater Center (2010) and the West End (2015).