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March 14, 2007: It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Patricia Marand and Bob Holiday Together Again!
By Brian McKernan
Bob Holiday, Patricia Marand and Rob Ventre
On March 12, almost 41 years to the day that It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman premiered on Broadway, the original Lois and Clark of the show The New York Times once called "The best musical of the season" reunited to attend a modest revival production by the Opening Doors Theatre Company (ODTC) at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre, in Greenwich Village. After being greeted by fans and well-wishers, Patricia Marand and Bob Holiday and the rest of the audience turned their attention to the stage as a dozen fresh young faces with the kind of singing and acting skills you'd expect to see on Broadway (just a quick uptown taxi-cab ride away) brought this tremendously fun-filled musical comedy to life under the direction of Casey Burden and choreographer Rick Delancy.
Performed in a space barely large enough to hold 100 people (actors included), what the production lacked in size was made up for by the talent and enthusiasm of its well-directed cast. This was, after all, Off-Off Broadway, where spartan production values are the norm. What mattered were energetic performances that provided just the right touch to this lighthearted musical comedy. Superman (played by the mesmerizingly confident Rob Ventre) didn't fly onstage. His costume was a Superman T-shirt and a pair of Clark Kent's dress slacks. Metropolis consisted of a small, black, canvas-backed stage. Musical accompaniment was a single piano adroitly played by Musical Director Steven Bednasz. But who misses elaborate sets and staging when you're having a rollicking, fast, funny, and totally engaging good time? The audience was too busy being entranced by the comic brilliance and singing voice of Sarah Lilley (Lois Lane), the lovably evil crooning of Andrew Cao (Daily Planet gossip columnist Max Mencken), the vampy delights of Suzanne Adams (Mencken's secretary Sydney), and the utterly hilarious Jason B. Schmidt (as the evil and hirsute villain Dr. Abner Sedgwick).
Click "Read More" below to read the complete report by Brian McKernan.
With songs by Broadway supermen Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (Bye Bye Birdie, Applause) and a book by the late David Newman and Robert Benton (Bonnie and Clyde), it's still hard to believe that the original 1966 It's a Bird... didn't have as long a run onstage as Strouse's other comic-strip-inspired musical, Annie (with lyrics by Martin Charnin). Having been a 12-year-old TV addict when It's a Bird... premiered 41 years ago I can attest to what Newman (screenwriter on three of the four Christopher Reeve Superman movies) once said about this musical lasting only 129 performances: "It was a victim of 'cape lash.' " Batman had premiered on ABC in January, and the nation was bat-crazy. People had their fill of caped crusaders on TV two nights a week, and Broadway audiences assumed It's a Bird... was more of the same, which it wasn't.
I digress. It's too bad this ODTC's revival was only three nights long. They should move the show to a larger venue and run it for at least a week. It's solid fun, through and through. It's a Bird... was one of the ODTC's "Closing Notice" concerts, which the program booklet describes as "Loving tributes to 'flop' shows or musicals that had criminally short runs yet fun scores of merit." It's a Bird... is often revived by local theater companies (most recently by the Musical Theater Guild at the Alex Theater, in Glendale CA). If such a revival comes to your town, by all means see it. Let's hope it's as good a production as the ODTC's was.
On a personal note, this reporter was honored to sit at Patricia Marand and Bob Holiday's table during the performance and enjoy their company and that of Mr. Holiday's lovely daughter Kelly and Ms. Marand's gracious husband Irv Salem. It was a great feeling to occasionally steal sidelong glances at Ms. Marand and Mr. Holiday during the show and see the smiles that this performance of It's a Bird... brought to their faces. Their presence at the revival was a delight to the actors and the audience alike. At one point during the show Bob leaned over to me and whispered "You should have seen it on Broadway," and I realized what an incredible show it must have been on a full-size stage with million-dollar production values. I regret not asking my parents to take me, especially since we lived in the Bronx, just a 45-minute subway ride away from the Alvin (now the Neil Simon) Theatre.
The original production of It's a Bird... garnered multiple Tony nominations and rave reviews for the tremendous talents involved. You can find out more about the show in Bob Holiday's book Superman on Broadway and the DVD documentary Holiday in Metropolis, detailing his 2003 appearance at the annual Superman Celebration.
Patricia Marand and Bob Holiday made Superman history in 1966 with their acclaimed performances in It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, and they made a lasting impression on an audience yet again on March 12, 2007 with their visit to the show's revival. They continue to embody the beauty and gallantry, respectively, that the world has long associated with Lois and Clark/Superman. Thanks to them, the world renown of these great characters continues to inspire and provide a lasting sense of wonder.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH MARCEL FORESTIERI - "Bring Back Birdie's" original Conrad Birdie! |
Marcel Forestieri |
WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING IN YOUR FIRST BROADWAY SHOW?
Bring Back Birdie wasn't just my first Broadway show, it was the first show I ever auditioned for. Although I'd done community
theater as a teenager, I had never ventured out into legitimate theater. Ten years prior to Birdie, while in 12th
grade, I stumbled upon the idea to impersonate Elvis Presley. Back then there were no Elvis impersonators.
Although it started out as a comedy bit, I later developed it into a serious stage show in supper clubs and show
rooms around the country. In October of 1980 a fellow from New York who had booked me on tour a couple of years
earlier, called out of the blue and asked me if I'd be interested in auditioning for a Broadway musical. I said sure,
why not.
The rest is history.
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WHAT FOND MEMORIES DO YOU HAVE OF THE EXPERIENCE?
The whole experience only lasted 3 months, but there were a lifetime of memories. I would say the most
memorable one was the night we went off book.
We had the rare privilege of actually previewing
on Broadway for an entire month at the Martin Beck theater prior to opening. On occasion, Chita and I would play
little gags on each other during the performances. But they were harmless and known only to us. Well, the night
after we opened, I thought it would be funny to play a slightly more sophisticated gag on her. In the story,
Conrad fails to show up for a concert and to avoid legal action they fake his death. He's lying on a bed with a
sheet over him while just about everyone but Rosie is on stage. During that scene when the reporters leave,
Conrad flips off the sheet, fully clothed, downs a soda, burps loudly and is immediately stuffed into a closet only
to be let out two scenes later by Rosie. The joke I wanted to play on Chita was that when she opened the
closet door, I would step out wearing long john underwear instead of my clothes. But to keep continuity, so the
audience wouldn't be confused, I realized I also needed to be in the underwear in the earlier scene when I throw
off the sheet when the reporters leave. I didn't think it was a big deal so I didn't bother saying anything to the
other cast members. I had no idea what was about to happen. When I threw off the sheet and stood up, the
audience went into a huge laugh break that brought the house down. Which threw me for a loop because I didn't
think long johns were THAT funny, nor was I going for a laugh. But I guess it caused a chain reaction because the
look on Donald O'Connor and the other cast members' faces were that of complete shock and they started
laughing too. Which made the audience laugh harder. But if that wasn't enough, Donald began launching into a
series of one liners about what I was wearing that now had the other cast members in stitches. The audience was
roaring, the cast was covering their faces in laughter, the show had come to a complete stop, and all I could think
of was, this is going to blow the gag I had planed for Chita. After what seemed like an eternity, everything
calmed down and the show continued. But apparently not everyone thought it was funny. During the next scene before the one where Chita lets me out of the closet, the powers that be were absolutely livid. They were on the
head phones backstage yelling and threatening lawsuits if anyone tried another stunt like that.
See, it never
occurred to me that you're not allowed to screw around during a live performance of a 1.5 million dollar
production. I just wanted to make Chita laugh.
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DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE SHOW WAS IN DANGER OF CLOSING?
We knew the show wasn't going to be as big a hit as the original but we thought we'd at least run for 3 or 4
months so the producers could make some of their money back. We had no idea it would only last three nights.
Ironically, on the way to the train station that next morning, our name was already off the marquee and Liz
Taylor's Little Foxes was being put up. Our show wasn't the only one that happened to. Back then, every theater
on Broadway was full and there were dozens of shows previewing out of town waiting for an opening. So many
shows had their legs cut out from under them after they opened and so many producers lost so much money that
it caused a backdraft. Shows stopped being produced and, for a while in the early 80's, practically half of
Broadway was dark. |
Marcel Forestieri as Conrad (with Donna Monroe) in Bring Back Birdie
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WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH STARS LIKE CHITA RIVERA, DONALD O'CONNOR AND THE REST OF THE LUMINARIES INVOLVED IN BRING BACK BIRDIE?
To come into something like that so quickly and get to work with legends like Donald O'Connor and Chita Rivera,
not to mention [lyricist] Lee Adams, [composer] Charles Strouse, [book-writer] Michael Stewart, and [director] Joe Layton was something I'll never forget.
Chita was amazing. She knew I was green but she made me feel like an equal and took the time to teach me
things. We laughed a lot and stayed in touch for years. And what can I say about Donald? This was Hollywood
royalty. We also stayed friends for years. I was fortunate enough to see one of his last performances. Even
though he was frail he still had the magic to make any audience feel young again.
WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THESE DAYS?
For the past 10 yrs. I've been working the
corporate market as a Jay Leno impersonator and MC for general sessions and award shows. I've even had a few
shots on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I'm also co-founder of the Diabetic Life Foundation and the Diabetic Life
Magazine. Plus co-owner of The Nexxis Generation which is the global connection for the enhancement of
humanity. We bring together products, services and information for the Spirit, Soul and Body.
10-24-06 |
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