Superhero Musicals

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a lawsuit!

Something Old

I’m sure it will shock you all to learn that I’m a gigantic geek. Obviously musical theater tops the list of the things I nerd out about, but comic books and superheroes follow closely behind.

There are far too few superhero musicals. Unlike 80s movies, this is not a genre that producers are falling over themselves to bring to the stage. I think that comic books and musicals have a lot in common, and by that I mean they are both corny as hell. Ultimately I think that’s why superhero musicals are relatively rare: there is just too much corniness in one theater. The line for the audience between “along for the ride” and “laughing at you” is very thin here, especially when you are trying to get the audience to take you seriously.

However, there are a few notable shows that have made it to prominent stages. These fall into two categories. The first is the comic book adaptation, bringing a well-known superhero to a new genre. I’ll get to those in a moment, but first, I want to discuss the superhero-inspired show. These are musicals that use superhero and comic book elements within the story, but are not about the superheroes themselves—at least, not in the traditional sense.

Comic books have been used for decades to tell deeply important stories about the world through a supernatural lens. While the genre has problems like any genre, it’s also always been political and a way to express real messages through mutants, aliens, and crime-fighters. The relationship between genuine emotion and flashy escapism makes them an easy tool to project personal struggles onto—which is where several musical theater writers have found a way to craft a realistic story with a superhero angle.

The most recent example of this phenomena is Superhero, a Tom Kitt and John Logan musical that premiered Off-Broadway in 2019. A child obsessed with a superhero called the “Sea-Mariner” uses him to process his own grief at the loss of his father; meanwhile the show further extends the superhero lens to relate the mother to her child and her fear of not being able to protect him from the world. The Fortress of Solitude, by Michael Friedman and Itamar Moses, uses superheroes in a similar way. This time it’s about two friends—one Black and one white and Jewish—growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s. They’re connected through their love of superheroes, but pulled apart by their divergent lives and opportunities as they age. As in Superhero, the fantasy of superheroes and reality of their challenges interweave together.

Then there’s Brooklynite, which also takes place in Brooklyn, since musical theater writers are physically incapable of writing a story not set in New York City. Brooklynite has actual superheroes characters, albeit ones concocted specifically for this show, and takes a goofier tone than the two previously mentioned musicals. Like I said, superheroes are corny—that doesn’t mean they can’t make a great story, but it does mean a comedy is more likely to fly.

There’s been a few superhero stories on stage in a few different eras—an adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel in the 1990s, the campy cult classic movie-turned-musical Toxic Avenger in the 1980s. There was supposed to be a Batman musical (possibly directed by Tim Burton!), but it was scrapped after creators Jim Steinman and David Ives had a giant flop with Dance of the Vampires. (That’s all just as well, considering Starkid has now made the definitive Batman musical.)

Okay I just spent an hour reading about Dance of the Vampires, but let’s continue the superhero talk. I’m going to get to the most infamous example in just a moment, but first, let’s talk about Superman.

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman! is a 1966 classic and the original superhero musical. It was well-reviewed, which I consider a stunning achievement for a Superman musical, but it was a huge commercial flop. It was directed by Hal Prince, who directed both the longest running Broadway show of all time and a musical that had five performances. If that doesn’t illustrate the unpredictability of Broadway I don’t know what can. Anyway, Superman was critically well-received in the 1960s, but I doubt its approach would work well in later decades. As Broadway became more cynical and directors more experimental, superhero shows started to look a little different.

Anyway, I know what everyone is here for—the controversial, elaborate production that was riddled with technical difficulties and mixed reviews. I am referring, of course, to 1989’s Starmites. It was nominated for 6 Tony Awards but didn’t bring home any; it ran for 60 performances but remains a cult classic and a not-unpopular junior production choice. It follows a shy teenager who creates a fantasy world from the sci-fi comic books she loves and had a wonderful and genuinely confusing Tony Awards performance.

Okay but seriously, what the hell was up with Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark? Infamous for severe injuries, technical issues that led to audiences sitting for hours, and multiple changes in the creative team as they struggled to fix the book, the controversial musical nevertheless ran for almost three years. That’s a respectable run, but since it was the most expensive Broadway production in history with a $75 million budget, it closed at a huge financial loss.

The excruciating story of how it all fell apart is detailed in Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History, in which book writer Glen Berger details the missteps and cosmic curses the creative team experienced over the years they worked on the musical. Berger is unable to recognize that he is a villain in his own story, but it’s also impossible not to feel bad for everyone involved. They could have made better choices, but they also were basically doomed from the start when their lead producer, Tony Adams, tragically died right after he gathered the initial creative team. It was pretty much nothing but bad luck from that point on.

The preview period for Spider-Man was absurdly long with 182 performances; the opening date was pushed back several times for technical problems and rewrites. The previews went on for so long and the eventual changes were so extensive that the Wikipedia page has two plot synopses: one for the preview period and one for the show in its official run. Conflicts over the story eventually led to Tony Award winning director Julie Taymor leaving the project before it opened, with decidedly bad blood between her and the remaining team.

Nothing is a better example of why superhero musicals are so tricky, and why Spider-Man in particular was seemingly cursed, than their Tony Awards performance in 2011. Instead of showcasing any bold and bright stunts, or indulging a little humor, it’s a serious duet between Mary-Jane and Peter. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very sweet, but it’s not exactly the most captivating Tony performance.

I assume that they made this choice because there was no chance of anything going wrong—no expensive tech that they had to translate to a different theater (which was probably impossible anyway), and no dangerous stunts that could potentially lead to a live TV disaster. Just a nice couple singing a U2 song, no scandal here, no sir.

But the necessity of playing it safe means that there’s no magic to it, no joy of comic books springing off the page, no escapism. Comic book musicals are like musical movies—ones that take themselves too seriously are doomed to fail. It’s just not what the genre demands.

I’m all for the gradually increasing trend of using superheroes as a tool for exploring original stories and ideas on the stage, and frankly I’m here for adapting classic superheroes into musicals. Just remember that they’re supposed to be fun, and it’s okay for them to be a little silly, and you’re halfway there.

Something New

• Ben Brantley, chief theatre critic at the New York Times since 1996, announced that his last day will be on October 15. A brief look at Twitter reveals that white men over 35 are wishing him well and everyone else (and Stephen Trask) is throwing an absolute rager celebrating him leaving, so take that as you will.

Something Borrowed

Since I featured Reeve Carney in Spider-Man earlier, here’s a much more fun video to watch: the Hadestown Tiny Desk Concert. It’s almost half an hour of pure joy and delightful characters, and features former Spider-Man actors Carney AND Patrick Page, who have found much more success in this Tony-award winning musical.

Something Blue

Felicia Fitzpatrick is the social media director of Playbill and the host of Call and Response. With that resume, it should be no surprise to learn that her personal feed is also a must-follow.

Epilogue

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed today’s issue, please share it with some friends who you think might enjoy it as well.