It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman

The best gift isn’t under the Christmas tree, it’s on HBO Max! Celebrate Christmas Day with Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gadot, when it flies onto the platform the same day it hits theaters around the country.

The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards will celebrate the life and legacy of American theater producer and director Harold 'Hal' Prince with the Drama Desk's newly established lifetime achievement honor.

The Frank Frazetta The Serpent (aka 'Aros') Paperback Novel Cover Painting Original Art (Paperback Library, 1967) and Bernie Wrightson Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein Front Endpapers Illustration Original Art (late 1970s) sparked furious bidding to lead Heritage Auctions' Comics & Comics Art Auction to $9,099,710 in total sales April 30-May 3.

Historically, superhero concepts and musical theater don't tend to mix well. The off-Broadway musical Superhero, with a score by Tom Kitt, fares somewhat better. It's not breaking new ground, but it's a pleasant album with a big heart.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of prolific producer, director, writer, and the individual recipient of the most Tony Awards in multiple categories in history, Harold Prince, who passed away on July 31, 2019 at age 91. To commemorate his life and work, the Committee of Theatre Owners will dim the lights of Broadway theatres in New York for one minute on Wednesday, July 31 at exactly 7:45pm.

The Musical Theater Project announces another full season celebrating the American Musical - and the social and cultural history surrounding it - with performances created to educate as well as entertain. Public appearances will be held throughout northeast Ohio at some of Cleveland's most beloved venues including Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Nighttown and more.

San Francisco Playhouse (Artistic Director Bill English; Producing Director Susi Damilano) announced casting for the final show of its 2017-18 Mainstage Season--Sunday in the Park with George, the quintessential Stephen Sondheim musical about the art of creation and the creation of art. Bill English will direct the 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.

SUPERMAN is the tale of Superman's efforts to defeat a vengeful scientist, the new villain Dr. Abner Sedgwick, who seeks to destroy the world's symbol of good. In this premiere adaptation of the 1966 musical, It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, this TYA-friendly musical will be sure to soar up, up and away into the hearts of all children and the young at heart.

On June 7, 2018, Charles Strouse, the Tony Award-winning composer of Annie, Bye Bye and Applause, and some of the most popular music from the last 60 years of Broadway, film and television, turns 90. To mark the occasion, a year-long celebration of events, including tributes, concerts, revivals and international productions, will take place across the United States and around the world.

New subscriptions to the 2018-2019 Children's Theatre of Cincinnati MainStage season at the Taft Theatre will be available starting today, Monday, June 4, 2018.  Subscriptions range from $43 to $103 for all four productions.  Single tickets go on sale August 31.

What do Jay-Z, Kobe Bryant, Archie Bunker, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ed Koch, Bart Simpson, Bruce Campbell, Bonnie and Clyde, and J-Lo have in common?  The answer: Charles Strouse (and his hit songs)!

The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati's 94th MainStage season will take audiences 'up, up and away' with a SUPER season opener for Tri-State students and families at the Taft Theatre. 

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, SWEENEY TODD, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, COMPANY, CABARET, FOLLIES. Each was directed and/or produced by Broadway legend Harold Prince. Each contributed to his record-high pile of Tony awards, and has been produced and acclaimed across the world.

Neglected Musicals will present MAME at Hayes Theatre Co from Wednesday 5 July.  Directed by Richard Carroll, this 1966 Broadway hit will be the first time the musical has been performed on a professional stage since 1968. 

Bob Holiday, best known for portraying Clark Kent/Superman in the 1966 Broadway musical It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!, has passed away at 84 years old.

The Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum will be the setting for An Intimate Evening with Linda Lavin & Billy Stritch on December 10, 2016 at 6 p.m. This is the 2016 Temple Isaiah Benefit Concert and it will feature the legendary and Tony® award-winning Linda Lavin, joined by her music director Billy Stritch as they present a delightful evening of jazz standards and show tunes. Broadway, Television and Film star Linda Lavin has received a Tony®, a Drama Desk, an Outer Critics,' and a Helen Hayes award. Billy Stritch, one of the premier singer-pianists on the New York and national jazz and cabaret scenes joins Ms. Lavin as they present jazz standards and show tunes that are sure to delight the audience.

Happy Birthday, Charles Strouse! Strouse's first Broadway musical was the 1960 hit Bye Bye Birdie, with lyrics by Lee Adams, who would become his long time collaborator. Following this was Golden Boy (1964, also with Adams), starring Sammy Davis, Jr. and It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman (1966, based on the popular comic strip) which introduced the song 'You've Got Possibilities' sung by Linda Lavin. In 1970, Applause (starring Lauren Bacall, with book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and lyrics by Adams) won Strouse his second Tony Award. In 1977, Strouse adapted another comic strip for the stage, creating the hit Annie, which garnered him his third Tony Award and two Grammy Awards. Other Strouse musicals include Charlie and Algernon (1979), Dance a Little Closer (1983, with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner), Rags (1986), Nick & Nora (1993), and An American Tragedy (1995, with lyrics by David Shaber).

Wham! Pow! Boom! Up and away, it's Superman! Growing up in the 50s I couldn't wait for the next weekly adventure-filled installment of Supie and Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and the Daily Planet on the small television screen. It was thrilling to see a man go into a telephone booth and change from street clothes into tights - even if they were baggy - and fly off - imagine! - to save the world from crime and destruction. It didn't matter that it was pure fantasy and that he he was only a comic book hero. Superman brought lots of excitement into our young lives. In 1966, the same musical composers who wrote the successful Broadway hit Bye Bye Birdie, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, penned It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman! The New Musical Comedy and in spite of the great reviews, it did not catch on with the public, so quickly fizzled. Now 50 years later, what a camp to look back and laugh at all the silliness and innocence of that era, for the Superman musical is loaded with clumsy, goofy, campy laughs. Now onstage in a rare revival ... It's Superman receives a terrifically entertaining production at the Grove Theatre in Upland.

The Grove Theatre is excited to announce the opening of Superman the Musical, starring the Emmy Award-winning star of 'The Young and the Restless' David Lago.

Encompass New Opera Theatre held a gala to honor legendary Broadway performer BARBARA COOK and lyricist LEE ADAMS (Bye Bye Birdie, Golden Boy, Applause) with a star-studded musical salute on Sunday, October 25. BroadwayWorld has photos from the evening below!

Malcolm Gets (Tony Award nominee for Amour) and Ted Keegan (Star of Broadway's Phantom of the Opera) have joined the lineup for the Encompass New Opera Theatre (Nancy Rhodes, Artistic Director) gala to honor legendary Broadway performer BARBARA COOK and lyricist LEE ADAMS (Bye Bye Birdie, Golden Boy, Applause) with a star-studded musical salute on Sunday, October 25.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), now through October 24. Opening Night is tonight, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), tonight, October 2, through October 24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Encompass New Opera Theatre (Nancy Rhodes, Artistic Director) and Gala Honorary Chairs Sheldon Harnick, Charles Strouse, and Maury Yeston will honor legendary Broadway performer BARBARA COOK - on the exact day of her 88th Birthday - and lyricist LEE ADAMS (Bye Bye Birdie, Golden Boy, Applause)  with a star-studded musical salute on Sunday, October 25.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), October 2-24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.