Superman’s lyricist Lee Adams once said:
I guarantee that you … will not “learn” much from "It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman©". You won’t leave the theatre in tears. You won’t be moved by insightful revelations or earnest solutions to the great problems of the day. But you’ll have lots of fun.
And that’s exactly what happened at the 2025 Foster Cat production of "It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman©" at the Broadwater Theatre in Hollywood, California.
Imagine this: Superman and the evil Max Mencken are played by real-life brothers. On Broadway, Superman (Bob Holiday) and Max Mencken (Jack Cassidy) could not have been more different. Bob was tall, dark, handsome, and guileless. Jack was slight, blond, handsome, and menacing. In this Hollywood production, both Superman and Max Mencken were the same height, the same build, had the same dark, curly hair, and looked alike. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but these two brothers, Elliot White (Superman) and Harry White (Max Mencken) played their roles so perfectly that their physical similarities were simply not an issue. Editor's note: Neither of the White brothers is related to Perry!
Elliot White’s Superman was sweet and caring. If Superman could be a puppy dog, that was Elliot’s take on the role. At the same time, his Superman was an excellent crime fighter and strategist. Throughout the show, the entire audience was pulling for Superman and Clark Kent. In the second act, when Professor Sedgwick attacks Superman with psychology, the audience truly believed that this kind and gentle Superman was traumatized by Sedgwick’s mental machinations. Throughout the show, you enjoyed watching this gentle, innocent Superman.
Harry White’s Max Mencken is by far the best I’ve seen in a revival. As I said in A Tale of Two Men, Max Mencken has to be strong and commanding. I’ve seen a lot of revivals, and usually Max is kind of a milquetoast. But Harry’s Max was boisterous and imposing. He pushed around his secretary, knew that he deserved Lois Lane, and was certain that his Daily Planet columns were the best columns on planet Earth. We all loved him while we were busy hating him. It takes a great actor to accomplish that. Both Jack Cassidy and Harry White managed this oh-so-difficult feat.
The supporting cast was also terrific. Emily Jones’s Lois Lane hit just the right note with both her singing voice and her portrayal. She was a bright light on a well-lit stage, she sang well, and she engendered a spunky, strong, and stylish Lois without resorting to nastiness. This was a Lois that Superman could fall in love with, something often lacking in modern portrayals.
On Broadway, Max Mencken’s secretary, Sydney, was played by incomparable Linda Lavin. Those are tough shoes to fill, but Jaley Hoyt did so admirably. Jaley was small and spunky, a perfect Sydney. She stood up to Max Mencken’s demanding demeanor and held her own. While we all loved Max, we also reveled in Sydney’s commanding comebacks. And when she set her cap for Clark Kent, we believed that he could fall for this little spitfire.
Cooper McAdoo played Professor Abner Sedgwick, and he was appropriately insane in his anger at being a ten-time–Nobel-Prize loser. He is always costumed with wild hair, played as a truly mad scientist, and could be viewed as a completely comedic character. McAdoo’s Sedgwick, on the other hand, never lost the menace beneath his madness. He actually scared me, especially with his calm control whenever he was the most dastardly.
Not to be forgotten is Will Fulginiti, who played the thankless role of Jim Morgan, Dr. Sedgwick’s lab assistant. Jim Morgan also woos and wins Lois Lane away from Superman. No one wants him to win, and yet he plays a critical role in bringing Superman back to heroic status. Will also served in the chorus and had some of the funniest costume changes in the show. So while we don’t want him to succeed with Lois, we also enjoyed the wonderfully wild characters he played.
The set was colorfully minimalist, festooned in red, yellow and blue. There was a phone booth on one side and a Superman “S” surfboard on the other. Tables were brought in and out to serve as Daily Planet desks. Clever props enhanced the story line in surprising ways. The keyboard and drums were at the back of the stage, and only about six feet separated the ten-inch tall stage from the audience. With a mere 99 seats, this was truly an intimate theatre. No microphones were used, and we could hear all the dialogue perfectly well. My only criticism of the show was that the accompaniment was a bit too amplified and could drown out the singers. For me, that was fine; I know every song by heart. But Lee Adams’s lyrics are so clever that I hope no one missed any of his amazing rhymes.
The remainder of the cast: Julia McCammon, Troy Barboza, Jena Ziomek, and Raphael Berglas (who co-directed with Harry White), were wonderful. Each played multiple roles, changing wigs and costumes at impossible—dare I say super—speeds. Every revival seems to modify the villains; composer Charles Strouse once said that each revival’s villain depends on the politics of the day. In this production, Broadway’s “Flying Lings” morphed into the “Flying Lynskies,” a family of Communist ne’er-do-wells headed by Julia McCammon’s “Mother Lynsky.” The Lynsky’s Bolshevik dance moves were impressive, as was the fight scene that accompanies Superman singing “Pow! Bam! Zonk!” But I don’t want to leave anyone out. The entire cast was great: funny, talented, and compelling.
In the end, Superman saved the day. Lois Lane’s heart returned to our hero. And Lee Adam’s prediction came true: We all had lots of fun.
SupermanBobHoliday.com
