THE BURNS MANTLE YEARBOOK THE BEST PLAYS Ur 9651966 EDITED BY OTIS L.GUERNSEYJR. “47 WITH HIRSCHFELD DRAWINGS FNS Oe Zs HOGAN'S GOAT | MAN OF LA MANCHA INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE | | CACTUS FLOWER MARAT / SABE UL te | co PPSA BIRD IVS A PLANE ws | SUPERMAN16 THE BEST PLAYS OF 1965-1966 and courage; they are a time for plays about characters sitting in garbage cans complaining about what went wrong. If Man of La Mancha can’t reverse the gravitation, maybe it can help to start a trend of its own. In his introduction to the synopsis of his musical in the Best Plays section of this volume, Dale Wasserman declares he knew he was working against the grain of the modern theater when he selected and organized the Cervantes-Don Quixote material. He was so admirably successful that maybe he will jog others out of the blue monotony of neurotic cynicism into an occasional appreciation of the human spirit in a larger-than-life phase. Musically speaking, the season’s first success was announced in the chal- lenging trumpets of Man of La Mancha; then it rested on its laurels and made do with fair-to-middling shows until the last weeks, when it roused to the fanfare of Superman and Mame. Meanwhile, audiences subsisted on Sweet Charity and the musical musings of a couple of crazy, mixed-up kids named Harris. In Alan Jay Lerner’s On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Barbara Harris was just loaded with ESP (and talent, in an enchanting performance) as a lass who can read thoughts, make plants obey her orders to grow and, under hypnosis by a handsome psychiatrist, remember her previous incarna- tion. In Skyscraper, based on Elmer Rice’s Dream Girl, Julie Harris is a dreamer whose romantic fantasies are acted out as she tries to choose among the men in her life, at the same time preventing the high-rise brigands next door from swallowing her little old New York house into their shiny new sky- scraper project. There was a lot of handsome production designed by Robert Randolph in Skyscraper and a good tune in On a Clear Day, but it was the performing rather than the material that filled out these shows. The same was true of Sweet Charity even though it was Neil Simon himself whe wrote the musical’s book, based on the Italian movie Nights of Cabiria. In Sweet Charity (which opened at the refurbished Palace and brought that storied theater back to the legitimate stage), Simon's book about a dance hall hostess doesn’t glitter as sharply as his two hit comedies that were concurrent with it, Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple. But an appealing song and dance performance by Gwen Verdon put the show over, with an important assist from Bob Fosse’s choreography and staging. Then Superman arrived in the nick of time to lift the season out of its musi- cal lethargy. If our musical theater cannot create its own original material (and this year it cannibalized a comic strip, the novels Don Quixote, Auntie Mame, The Yearling, How Green Was My Valley and Pickwick, the movie Nights of Cabiria and the plays Dream Girl and Anastasia), then the next best thing is to find that the very choice of material adapted is a major part of the fun. So it was with the show whose official title was “Jr's a Bird Its a Plane Jr's SUPERMAN,” quotes and all, a Best Play, devoted faithfully and ex- tremely cleverly to the comic strip on which it was based. It was not camped, but played as straight as possible in a good laugh at our secret longing for a hero who could solve all problems, defeat all enemies. The joke is not on Superman, as it is on TV's Batman. The joke is right where it should be—on us and our childish instsaets. When something goes wrong in Metropolis, Clark Kent is there to fix it—meek Clark Kent, reporter on the Daily Planet, scornedTHE SEASON IN NEW YORK M7 BOB HOLIDAY (AS SUPERMAN), MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN, LINDA LAVIN AND JACK CASSIDY IN “IT’S A BIRD IT’S A PLANE I1T’s SUPERMAN” as an underdog by his fellow-reporter Lois Lane until presto! he strips off his sober clothes and stands revealed, muscles bulging in his blue and red cape costume, the Superman of Lois’s dreams. He is impersonated to the pen-and- ink life by Bob Holiday and directed in dead-pan style by Harold Prince (Superman is a straight man). This Man of Steel faces a foeman worthy of his invincible and indestructible mettle: a mad scientist, a gangling, thread- paper comic strip villain played by Michael O'Sullivan, who is furious because he’s never won a Nobel Prize. He plots to draw attention to himself by de- stroying indestructible Superman. How? Physically Superman is invulnerable,18 THE BEST PLAYS OF 1965-1966 but psychologically he is not; like mere mortals he needs to be loved, to have his good works appreciated. Taking dead aim at this vulnerable spot, the mad scientist pursues our hero through the musical’s two lively acts, through an excellent, faintly rocky score by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, waiting for him to alight from his flights through the air over Metropolis (by means, we assume, of a contraption of invisible wires); and finally penetrating Clark Kent’s disguise with the help of a slippery newshawk played by Jack Cassidy. The mad scientist nearly stages the upset of the century, but Superman wins out in the end (phew!). As a good guy, Superman is so square that it’s too much to expect for him to be likeable. He is, though; this Superman is almost human. What is he but a knight-errant of the space age who can “fight the unbeatable foe” and win, who can “reach the unreachable star?” Super- man is Don Quixote’s dream come true; and Don Quixote’s dream, though it may be laughable, is never ridiculous. The same goes for Superman in his wel- come arrival in a stage version. Following close upon the flowing cape of Superman was another musical whose heroine would no doubt have invited the Man of Steel to cocktails to feel his muscles—Mame, the life-loving subject of Patrick Dennis’s novel Auntie Mame who (as Rosalind Russell) has already appeared in a play and a movie. Now (as Angela Lansbury) she appears in a musical version, sweep- ing all before her so that she may bring up her beloved nephew Patrick in the style to which he should be accustomed. He must learn to mix martinis, to tango in a speakeasy and, of course, to get along in a progressive school at which the little boys run around naked with the little girls. In wealth and in Depression, in foxhunting Georgia and in snobbish suburbia, Miss Lansbury’s Mame was always equal to and a little bit ahead of the demands placed on her by a strenuous and all-embracing life, and so was the actress in her role. It was a delight to meet Mame’s friends, too: Beatrice Arthur as a contralto musi- cal comedy star ready at any moment to strike a heavy blow for her best friend or against her; Jane Connell as the mousy secretary who is sent forth to have some fun and comes back sadder, wiser and pregnant. It’s also a pleasure to report that Jerry Herman's score is typical Jerry Herman: it bounces with singable songs for performers who want to expend a lot of energy, and his lyrics blend with the flow of the book adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Rob- ert E. Lee from their own play. The William and Jean Eckart scenery and Robert Mackintosh costumes were both handsome and efficient, chic as could be but never overblown except for deliberate effect. Mame, the last new show of the year, put a real exclamation point on the 1965-66 season. It’s highly probable that Mame will achieve hit status; and so will Sweet Charity and Man of La Mancha; and so, very likely, will Wait a Minim! This revue from South Africa has been touring its own country and the world for more than four years; yet its young performers were still sassy and boistcrous and proud of their material. The show was paced briskly by director-producer Leon Gluckman through efficient scenery made of sliding panels designed by Gluckman and Frank Kembach. A program note stated, “Coming from South Africa, where the political climate is hot and angry, it is inevitable that Wait a Minim! should have a point of view.” This point of view punctuated theO00 OOO 900 . Soo “IT’S A BIRD IT’S A PLANE S00 IT’S SUPERMAN” A Musical Comedy in Two Acts Book By DAVID NEWMAN and ROBERT BENTON Music By CHARLES STROUSE Lyrics By LEE ADAMS Based on the comic strip, Superman Cast and credits appear on page 405 DAVID NEWMAN and ROBERT BENTON (book) met on the staff of Esquire, where Newman was an editor and Benton an art director, and where hey soon began to collaborate on various literary projects. Newman was born in New York, in 1937, and grew up in the suburbs, in Mount Vernon. He went to the University of Michigan, where he won the Avery Hopwood drama contest, Benton was born, raised and educated in Texas; born in Dallas in 1932, raised in Waxahachie, and went to college at University of Texas. Since their meeting at the magazine, their output has included a political satire en- titled Extremism; an original screen play; a monthly column in Mademoiselle called “Man Talk,” and numerous free-lance assignments jor various maga- zines. Benton has collaborated with another writer on The In and Out Book and The Worry Book. He is married, with one child; Newman is married, with two children. They continue at Esquite as contributing editors. Their book for the musical Superman is the Broadway writing debut of both. “Its a Bird Its a Plane It’s Superman”: By David Newman, Robert Benton, Lee Adams and Charles Strouse. Lyrics Copyright © 1966 by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse. Reprinted by permission of Morley Music Company, Inc. Text used by per- mission of David Newman and Robert Benton, See caurios notice on copyright page. All inquiries concerning the Iyrics should be addressed to: Morley Music Company. Inc.. 31 West S4th Street, New York. NY, 10019. All other inquiries should be addressed to the authors’ agent: Gloria Safier, 667 Madison Avenuc, New York, N. Y. 10021 242“IT’S A BIRD IT’S A PLANE IT’S SUPERMAN” 243 CHARLES STROUSE (music) and LEE ADAMS (lyrics) have written three Scores together before Superman—those of Bye Bye Birdie (1960), All Amer- ican (1962) and Golden Boy (1964). Strouse is a native New Yorker, born in 1928. He has composed since the age of 12, and he studied at the Eastern School of Music and in private lessons from Aaron Copeland and Nadia Bou- langer. Adams was born in 1924 in Mansfield, Ohio and attended Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He did not get into writing lyrics until after a period of working on newspapers, magazine, TV and radio. Strouse and Adams began writing for the theater at Green Mansions, a re- sort in the Adirondacks where they had to come up with a new show every Saturday night. They have worked together for 17 years, during which time they have published more than 300 songs. In addition to their Broadway musi- cals, their work has included 15 revues, a television special and songs for two movies, Each is married, with one child. The musical Superman brought the Man of Steel from his natural habitat in the paneled pages of drawings to the scene-by-scene, number-by-number en- vironment of the musical stage. Our method of synopsizing Superman in the pages following the Introduction by the authors of its book differs from that used for the other nine Best Plays. In the case of Superman we represent the stage story mosily in pictures, so that you can see him in action as you are accustomed to do in his printed adventures. The photographs and drawings represent the succession of scenes as pro- duced and directed by Harald Prince on March 29, 1966 at the Alvin Thea- ter, with the dances and musical numbers staged by Ernest Flatt, in the scen- ery designed by Robert Randolph and the costumes designed by Florence Klotz. Our special thanks go to Mr. Prince and his press staff headed by Mary Bryant and Robert Pasolli for help in obtaining the excellent photos by Friedman-A beles and Van Williams. Special thanks, too, to Mort Weisinger, Executive Editor, Superman, through whose courtesy this synopsis of the musical includes several drawings which were not part of the show, but which picture the real Superman in action. INTRODUCTION BY THE PLAYWRIGHTS “It's a Bird It's a Plane It's SUPERMAN” deals with the problems of a schizoid Kryptonian (and by extension, all schizoid Kryptonians) and his re- jationships with ten-time Nobel Prize losers, jealous gossip columnists and Chinese acrobats. Its universal qualities are, therefore, immediate and un- shakable. In addition, the great modern dilemma of Alienation is thoroughly explored in the tragic character of Lois Lane, girl reporter, who is unable to pierce the emotional defense (“the Freudian mask") of Superman's blocked psyche. The latter is fully explored by the existential (in that it arises from an acte gratuit) probing of Dr. Abner Sedgwick, a 20th century Gilles de Raie. Nor does this deeply despairing theatrical event ignore the concept of Loss of Communication, in that Clark Kent can’t tell people that there is a red “S”244 ‘THE BEST PLAYS OF 1965-1966 underneath his white shirt, Loss of Identity, here expressed by the symbolic act of leaving one’s street clothes in a phone booth, is equally explored. To be sure, Superman has elements of the Theater of Cruelty: witness the scene in which the Chinese acrobats hit the hero with shovels, blackjacks and gongs. Lastly, the play contains aspects of Theater of the Absurd (note the lyrics: “Pow! Bam! Zonk!”) and many of the characteristics of the “happening,” i.e., the ever-present possibility that the wire will break and send the actor flying around the stage crashing downward. In short, Superman is a testament to the harrowing perplexities of 20th century Man, especially one who walks around in a red cape and blue tights; and we are exhausted from writing it. Perhaps you noticed. DAVID NEWMAN and ROBERT BENTON.Time: The present Place: In and around Metropolis ACT I Scene 1: A muscled figure in blue and red cape swoops from the sky, picks up the getaway car of a gang of bank robbers and flings it into the air. It’s not a bird. . . it’s not a plane it’s Superman. Having stopped the bank robbers, Superman then races up a side street to a phone booth where he can put on his Clark Kent disguise, singing Evry man Has a job to do, And my job is doing good! Ev'ry night When the job is through, I fold my tights, proud to know I've done all T could! It’s a satisfying feeling When you hang up your cape, To know that you've averted Murder, larceny and rape Evry man Has his job to do, And my job is doing good! Copyright © 1966, National Tl never stop doing good! Periodical Publications, Ine FRIEDMAN-ABELES Oh, It’s hard to keep on wearing The old Clark Kent smile, But I know [ have to do it "Cause my work is so worthwhile! So here you go, Bravery gone Meck and mild Glasses on Superman, Now you're Clark Kent (And now he is, left.)Max Mencken (left, Jack Cassidy), columnist on the Metropolis Daily Planet sneers at Superman, wonders “Who needs him?” PRIEDMAN-ABELES, “I need him!” cries Lois Lane (below center, Patricia Morand, arms upraised), a reporter on the Daily Planet. “They need me!” cues Superman and “We need him!” the citizens echo in song. CITIZENS: WOMAN In a world of evil and doubt, He saved my baby from a fire! We need him! MAN He caught the thug who was mugging Uncle Meyer! CITIZENS We need him! . Trouble looms and somehow he knows We need him! Yes, when a bad situation grows We need him! .... dire, We need him!—himmm. entVAN WILLIAMS Scene 2: At the Daily Planet, meek Clark Kent (Bob Holiday) covers lowly Shipping News while Lois, a city room star, covers the Superman story n often saves Lois’s life (Clark reminds her), flies her around free, bts in song—"Oh how I wish that’s all I've got with Superm gives her exclusives. But, Lois expresses her dou I weren't in love with Superman!/A wasted Superman!/To hope that it could ever be,/It’s just a schoolgirl’s fantasy,/Oh, is there no one else for me but Superman?” Enter Dr. Abner Sedgwick (below, Michael O'Sullivan). He needs Superman's help urgently. There’s a dangerous buildup in his nuclear reactor (notice Clark Kent eavesdropping). Suddenly Clark Kent departs FRICDMAN-ABELESPHOTOS BY FRIEDMAN-ABELES: Scene 2A; Clark Kent whips off his glasses, his hat, his Clark Kent disguise. Scene 3: He soars to the rescue, to the nuclear reactor room of Metropolis Institute of Technology (MIT), where he alights as SUPERMAN! > While Superman and Dr. Sedgwick (in a lead suit) enter the nuclear reactor and Dr. Sedgwick’s assistant Jim Morgan (below, Don Chastain) squeeze behind a shield and sing of who matters and who doesn't to repair it, Lois VAN WILLIAMS JIM . One big boom, And it'll all be over, Or perhaps the smog will finish Our short dull history! We don’t matter at all So here we are An earnest girl reporter, And you think you're something special In this vast eternity! Baby, you and I, We're just about as special As a walnut or a fly! We don’t matter at all! We don’t matter at all! We don’t really matter at all LOIS Wrong approach! To me 'm much more special Than a walnut or a roach Oh, we matter, we do What's the matter with you? People really matter—they do!FRIEDMAN-ABELES. The reactor is fixed; Metropolis is saved; the others have gone; and Dr Sedgwick, in his tattered lead suit, is seething. Sedgwick wants revenge on the human race because he’s never won the Nobel Prize. He had hoped that radiation would destroy the world’s symbol of goodness, Superman. SEDGWICK Ah! But the thing that really In nineteen forty-nine drove me to a fury I thought I had it made They gave the prize to Harold My work in light diffusion Urey! Put my colleagues in the shade! The shocking thing about the But then my hopes were shatterec matter is By some Hindu in Ceylon! My heavy hydrogen was heavier They gave the prize in physic than his! To Sir Chan Raman! Revenge! ! Revenge! That's all I live for no ton them all! Vill make ‘em wince and cringe le sligh I forget and cry! I'll show no n r I'll spit in their collective eye! hey'll all I'll have one thing before I die—! Revenge! ! ! !PHOTOS BY FRIEDMAN-ABELES Scene 4: At the Daily Planet, Max brushes off devoted Sydney (above left, Linda Lavin) who has brought him the makings of a ga into giving away his identity t to trap Superman Then Max makes a pass at Lois, who wants no part of him. Max si You're the woman for the man who has evrything! Let me show you how to live! Girls who get are girls who give! You're the woman for the man Who has ev’rything I'm a man who has ev’rything Ev'rything but you. At ev'ry opening night I'm there! Headwaiters know me ev'rywhere! Of course it’s freebies all the way A check for me? They wouldn't dar A chick is seen with me today Tomorrow Zanuck starts to call! So relax, kid, This is Max, kid! Dom't give me a stall!Max in his turn is brushed off by Lois possibility is shy, awkward Clark Kent to sing to him of possibilities: Haircut, simply terrible, Necktie—the worst! Bearing, just unbearable What to tackle first? Still you've got possibilities Though you're horribly square, I see possibilities, Underneath, there’s something there! You won't be shy When I get through Come on You tiger, you! nd roar Meanwhile, Sydney's only remaining Sydney leaps into Clark’s arms (below) Somewhere way down deep in you There’s life, no doubt! It's just been asleep in you Let me bring it out! You've got possibilities Maybe even a lot! Red-hot possibilities Why be shy and ill at ease? I see possibilities You don’t even know you’ got! ERIEDMAN-ABELESScene 5: Dr. Sedgwick phones to tell Lois he will name the new Physics building Superman Hall. Lois invites him to the Daily Planet to see a movie of Superman's life as background for his dedication speech. PHOTOS BY FRIEDMAN-ABELES Scene 6: At the Daily Planet screening room, Dr. Sedgwick’s assistant Jim arrives early and kisses Lois, Now, at last, she knows “What I've Always Wanted”: Well, well, look at me The girl who wanted the unattainable man, But now suddenly Life has handed me a totally different plan One kiss and something in me melts. And what I’ve always wanted— Turns out to be, Something else. What [’ve always wanted. What I’ve always wanted, Just to be a wife, that corny life Ts what I’ve always wanted. Dr. Sedgwick arrives at the screening room. The movie starts. It tells how a scientist on the planet Krypton be- came convinced his planet to explode—so he made one final effort to save his baby son. (Over. . . .) bingRE THE FATAL HOUR, TOR-EL FINISHED) LIVE A NeW LIFE EARTHS WAS THE PASSEN ‘D) |7ME PASSED--AS THE TINY ROCKET NEARED 178 DESTINATION--EARTH! IMPACT TOSSED KAL= UNHARMED. PEOPLE ANDand so the baby from Krypton arrived on Earth and grew up into Superman play Superman makes a little speech to the SUPERMAN: Kids, being Superman is a full-time job. But there’s a lot you can do to help. First, be good and listen to your parents and teachers Believe me, they're on your side. Se ond, be healthy, in mind and body You know, it’s not all ty asy combating the criminals and evil-doers in a The film ends, and Lois leaves Dr will hatch “Plan B” against Superman, Sedgwick alone to think himself that Superman needs his admirers as much as they need him The movie recapitulates some of his good deeds: catching criminals, ing checkers with old folks, entertaining children At the end of the film, audience. this size. No matter how hard I work. there will always be men who want to take the “easy w out. But if | know that the youth of Metropolis is behind me one hundred per cent, and if I can feel confident that tomorrow’s citizens will be decent, upright men and women, my job will be that much simpler. Sedgwick tells dgwick Once FRIEDMAN-ABELES Scene 7: The Flying Lings are enemies of Superman because while he’s around nobody will pay to see the Lings fly in their acrobatic act. They will help Dr. Sedgwick against Superman, They plan to rendezvous at City Hall Tower.Scene 8 At the Daily Planet, Max Meneken has narrowed his Superman Suspects to five. He brings them to the newspaper and pretends there is a bomb going off so that whoever is Superman will have to give himself aw But Clark Kent manages © the situation, surreptitiously. thus protecting his disguise Scene 9: Atop City Hall Tower. Dr. Sedgwick meets the Ling several sticks of dynamite Cinvented by Alfred Po Nobel) Sedgwick instructs the Lings to blow up City Hall Tower. FRIEDMAN-ABELES Scene 10, On the MET compus. Superman ties in for the ceremonies naming an Hall Dr Sedywick 1 on the platiorm ‘There are photographers pictute, and crowds to cheer him, and the girls MF pave, op) to sing and: dance “It's Super Nice.”VAN. WILLIAMS GIRLS: It's super nice It’s a bird it’s a plane it’s a— To be with you Tt’ ane it’s a— We only hope There goes Superman! A-look You feel it too Look up in the sky, So glad you're here There goes Su-baby my oh my All red and blue (Scream) . A super nice nice Yeah yeah yeah! Per-person like you! To show his atitude, Superman lifts the crowded platform (below). But what's kground? City Hall Tower dynamited, falling, and Superman is trapped, powerless to help! Dr. Sedgwick smiles gleefully. All look at Superman accusingly, as the curtain falls on Act 1 PRIEDMAN-ABELESVAN WILLIAMS ACT II Scene 1: Newspaper headlines shout Superman’s disgrace, WHERE WAS SUPERMAN? Max is happy. His mock-farewell is sung with irony ig guy You might as well y goodbye Turn in those tights, big guy g guy, Take your last bow, in your X-ray eye! And look who's the big guy now! Farewell, old pal Go on and ery, You know we'll all miss you, I understand, big guy You had your day. You're through, and how So what is there left to say? And me, I'm the big guy— Sure, you were doing swell So long, ta ta, and adios! Too bad you fell, big fella! Chin-chin, shalom and toodle—oo! Arrivederci, daddy-o!—now!Scene 2: In Clark Kent's apartment, a haggard Superman is bearing his humiliation alone, as best he can. Lois arrives and is surprised to find Superman at Clark Kent's, Superman expresses his hurt bewilderment in song Why can’t the strongest man in the world Be the happiest man in the world? Why docs the strongest man in the world Have the heaviest heart in the world! Why must I, the Man of Steel, Feel as helpless as a man of straw! Lois can relieve Superman's mind on one point burden to him any more She loves Jim Morgan. They used to hold me in such awe! Now the cheers Have turned to jeers! Why must the strongest man in the world Be the bluest man—tell me why? Don't they know the strongest man Can cry? she won't be an emotional Having “reassured” Super- man, she leaves so abruptly that she doesn’t hear Superman call out after her Lois, I love you!” VAN WILLIAMSee LEA i FRIEDMAN-ABELES, Scene 3: All week long “the skies have been empty.” as Max (above, with Sydney) writes in his column. Max suggests that Sydney write a book about him called “My Years With Max.” Sydney replies in song Ooh, do you love you! You're what you enjoy Ooh, do you love you! Boy! It’s boy meets boy! T've seen nothing to match You've found your Mister Right Such pure conceit It’s you-know-who! You're so sold on yourself Ooh, do you love you! It’s sort of sweet While Sydney is singing, the Lin in a laundry basket s hit Max on the head and carry him off Scene 4: Max is taken to Dr. Sedgwick’s laboratory. Dr. Sedgwick's computer, the Brainiac 7, indicat t iax may be Superman, Max laughs, suggests Sedgwick might as well have said Clark Kent. Sedgwick has never programmed Clark Kent. He does so. and the and Sedgwick pledge themselves to ¢ omputer declares Kent is Superman, Max h other as a m to destroy Superman, in exuberant song and dance (af rMAX: You've got what T need, baby! You've got it, and how! You've got what I need, baby! Together we can scale the heights, And I mean right now! You've got what it takes, sweetie! All the way from A to Z! You've got what I need, baby, And from now on baby, you've got me! VAN WILLIAMS VAN WILLIAMS FRIEDMAN-ABELES BOTH Here comes the new team, mister! fe'll be great, just wait and see! You've got what I need, baby And from now on, baby— Don’t mean maybe- From now on, baby, you've got me!Scene Meanwhile, in a number staged in comic-strip panels, Lois is still thinking of Superman when she should be thinking only of Jim. Sydney meets Clark Kent and kisses him (be- low right). Max’s comment is part of a song MAX She doesn’t know who’s kissing her— it’s Superman! LINGS: Why are we always out of a job— ALL: Who is the man you can’t ignore? It’s Superman! From Budapest to Baltimore— its Superman! His figure whirling round my brain! A creature science can't ¢ It's not a bird, it’s not a p' its Superman JIM I find and she VAN WILLIAMS SEDGWICK Who will we soon have in our net— LIN —it’s Superman! ENSEMBLE: Why's the sky so empty? Superman, where is he? How could he desert us? Superman, how could y Who is the n it’s Superma you can’t forget— DMAN-ABELESScene 6: Max leads Clark Kent and Sydney into Scdgwick’s trap in an abandoned power station. Max sends Sydney away. The Lings bring in Lois, unconscious and strapped to a chair which they connect to a 6,000-volt generator, so that Superman can't make a move without endangering her life. The Lings drag Max off. Sedgwick tells Clark he knows he’s Superman, and he attacks the Man of Steel psychologically. Is he really doing good? If so, why doesn’t he prevent crime instead of just catching crooks after the fact? Why does he wear an ostentatious cape? (Slowly, Superman peels off his Clark Kent disguise.) Why, in fact, call himself Superman? It is because, rejected from his native planet, he needs the adulation of millions. Superman, shaken, falling apart, drops in a chair. SUPERMAN: But they do love me— SEDGWICK: Oh do they? Yes, they love the performer, the stunt man who flies in the sky—(As if he had just thought of it.) Flying? You know, of course, that flying is a well-known dream symbol of frustration, but let that pass. (Patronizingly.) | know you really can fly. Of course Clark Kent can’t fly. But then he doesn’t need to. He has a job, a home, friends. Remember, the world created Superman, but you have created Clark Kent. Why have you found it necessary to lead this double life? Could it be because you are unable to accept responsil 7 ities? SUPERMAN: Dr. Sedgwick, I... can’t. . . think anymore— SEDGWICK (heading for home, driving hard): Superman, this is truth. A child who is rejected thinks in his childish way that he has done something wrong. A creature, who walks among men, disguised as one of them, and yet rejects the idea of living as one of them?? Such a man is consumed by guilt! Such a man will perform so-called good deeds in the hope of alleviating that guilt! SUPERMAN: Have I no right to my job? SEDGWICK (relentlessly, ruthlessly, hammering him down): Who gave you that right? Who set you up as the judge? Who told you that men couldn't deal with their own lives? Who told you that we needed a Superman? Superman slowly puts his head in his hand, beaten. Totally self-absorbed and broken. I did it! I did Jim rushes in looking for Lois, and the Lings knock him on the head and he falls a foot away from where Superman sits brooding. But Superman pays no attention. His inertia is as complete as his defeat. Scene 7: That night. Lois is still strapped to the generator and Max is a prisoner too, guarded by the Lings. Lois sings her confidence that “I'm not finished yet!/Superman won't let me die!” Sedgwick comes in followed by humble, obedient Superman. The Flying Lings reveal themselves as repre- sentatives of Red China, They pin a peace medal on Sedgwick, who is almost crazed by his victory. They will all escape to Red China in a helicopter, taking Superman with them. Lois shouts to Superman that this is wrong. Jim protests, and they shoot him. This brings Superman out of his fog, “I'll never stop doing good!” he cries and attacks the Lings—POW! BAM! ZONK!SUPERMAN ‘ou boys—por od! Bam! mess up your plan Witt man Took who rezlly tes! POIGTOS AY YAN WILLIAMS Lines: oof! Arghhh! Grunt Gasp! Usggzh! Owl Choke! Aie Thue! Sob! Arghhh! Gott Groan! Choke!