Pop Culture
‘It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane …’ it’s the musical revival’s Superman
The first photo has surfaced of Edward Watts as a rather old-school Man of Steel in the Encores! revival of It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman, which opens tonight for a five day run at New York City Center. (Cue complaints about DC Comics’ New 52 redesign.)
Yes, long before Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark wreaked havoc on cast members and production budgets, or even ads for the aborted Captain America musical puzzled comics readers in the mid-1980s, Superman soared to Broadway in 1966 in a show directed by none other than Harold Prince. OK, “soared” is a bit of an overstatement, as It’s a Bird … closed after 129 performances (still, it garnered three Tony nominations).
While it’s been revived on a handful of occasions, the best-known version is the abbreviated television adaptation starring Lesley Ann Warren, David Wilson and Loretta Switt that aired in 1975 on ABC. If you’re unfamiliar with any of the stagings, don’t feel bad: Watts wasn’t either.
“I only knew that it existed, actually,” he tells Broadway.com. “Quite frankly, I never really thought I would play Superman. I used to work for a company that would hire out actors to play characters at their company picnics during the summer, but it wasn’t really a show — you just put the costume on and walk around and take pictures with the kids.
Watts is joined by Jenny Power as Lois Lane and Alli Mauzey as Sydney Carlton.
How to make a Batarang, because you know you want one
What fan of Batman, whether as a child or as an adult, hasn’t wished to own Batarangs that could scare the bejeezus out of a bad guy or, I don’t know, maybe sever a carotid artery? Well, now you can make your own … as long as you have a fully equipped blacksmith shop at your disposal.
Tony Swatton, a veteran armorer and master blacksmith who has created props for the likes of Batman Forever, The Dark Knight, Thor and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, hosts a web series called Man at Arms in which he recreates famous weaponry from movies and television series (he’s tacked everything from Raphael’s sais from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Jaime Lannister’s sword from Game of Thrones). In the latest installment, he turns his attention to the Batarangs from the Batman movies.
Normally I would razor-sharpen a knife or a sword,” Swatton says. “I’m not quite putting that degree of sharpness on it, but a comparative sharpness to these Batarangs would be as sharp as I sharpen an ax. These are not stunt Batarangs. These ones will tear stuff up.”
Don”t believe him? Watch the video below.
What if corporate-owned heroes had corporate sponsors?
Booster Gold was introduced in 1986 as a glory-seeking time traveler eager to sign endorsement deals, and in his appearance on The CW’s Smallville wore a costume emblazoned with corporate logos, similar to a NASCAR racing suit. But what if other superheroes followed in Booster’s footsteps?
In his series “Sponsored Heroes,” Roberto Vergati Santos envisions costumed heroes from comics and films if they were getting some sweet, sweet sponsorship money from the likes of Nike, Apple and Coca-Cola (although why a cosmic entity like Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, would need corporate cash is beyond me).
Some of the results a much better than others. You can see a sampling below, or view the entire series at Behance.
Warner Bros. finds someone to take Berry’s Catwoman costume
George Clooney’s mask from 1997′s Batman & Robin, Halle Berry’s costume from 2004′s Catwoman and Christopher Reeve’s outfit from 1983′s Superman III have been donated by Warner Bros. to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Please hold your “Because nobody else would take them” remarks until the end.
They were among the more than 30 items from 13 Warner Bros. features said to “represent significant performances and films that have been influential in American life.” Somewhere, Joel Schumacher is feeling a sudden sense of vindication.
Other props presented Friday by Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer include a Gremlin model from Gremlins 2: The New Batch, stop-action puppets from Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and a chocolate bar and golden ticket from Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Separated at birth? Lamborghini Ferruccio and the Batmobile
Lucius Fox may have some serious competition from English designer Mark Hostler, who created a concept car to celebrate this year’s 50th anniversary of Lamborghini that bears a striking similarity to an automobile seen prowling the streets of Gotham. Or, in the words of Jamal Igle, “It’s the f*cking BATMOBILE!!!!!”
The Lamborghini Ferruccio is equipped with a 5.0-liter V12 engine featuring twin-turbochargers and a direct-injection system, although presumably it doesn’t include a mobile Batcomputer or Bat-tering Ram. Still, it’s likely only someone with Bruce Wayne’s wealth could afford it.
Cristiano Siqueira’s posters for imaginary Batman films
Cristiano Siqueira, the Brazillian illustrator/designer sometimes known as CrisVector, is another one of those guys who spends a fair amount of time dream-casting Batman films in his head, but unlike most, has gone on and created posters for these imaginary movies. He’s posted a gallery of them on Behance, and some of them are quite inspired — Mel Gibson as Frank Miller’s returning Dark Knight? Suitably mental!
‘Batman’ unmasked — as a delivery guy helping a shady friend
No sooner did the Batman of Bradford, England, make international headlines for turning over a wanted man to police than he’s been unmasked by the media, thus ending the shortest-ever membership in the Club of Heroes.
As you might have suspected, West Yorkshire’s own Dark Knight isn’t Bruce Wayne, or even Cyril Sheldrake. Instead, he’s been identified as Stan Worby, a 39-year-old Chinese takeaway driver. And he wasn’t proving once again that criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot; rather, he was helping a friend pull off a joke.
‘Batman’ turns suspect over to police, disappears into the night
Much like their Gotham City counterparts, police in West Yorkshire are left wondering about the identity and whereabouts of the Caped Crusader.
BBC News reports that a man dressed as the Dark Knight appeared at a police station in the early hours of Feb. 25 to hand over a 27-year-old wanted on charges handling stolen goods and fraud before fading back into the darkness. “Where he went, nobody knows,” correspondent Danny Savage says. “He disappeared into the night.”
While some have speculated that Batman might actually be a friend of the wanted man, police contend they have no clues to his identity.
Obama refers to ‘Jedi mind meld,’ sees nerd cred plummet [Updated]
You might criticize President Obama’s drone policy or question his stance on immigration, but his nerd credentials have always been beyond reproach. After all, this the commander-in-chief who collects Spider-Man and Conan comic books, does battle with a pint-sized wall-crawler in the White House, wields Lion-O’s Sword of Omens and flashes the Vulcan salute with Nichelle Nichols. However, what happened today now throws all of that into question.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in an impromptu briefing this morning about sequestration, Obama was asked about keeping Congressional leaders in a room until a solution could be worked out. His response was absolutely shocking: “I know that this has been some of the conventional wisdom that’s been floating around Washington that somehow, even though most people agree that I’m being reasonable, that most people agree I’m presenting a fair deal, the fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow, you know, do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.”
Take that, Doc Ock: Spider-Man’s web could stop a subway train
It turns out that scene in 2004′s Spider-Man 2 in which Peter Parker used his webbing to stop a subway train from hurtling off the tracks and into the river may have been the least-outlandish thing about the movie.
Playing MythBusters, physics students from the University of Leicester put the sequence to the test and discovered that, yes, some spider silk is strong enough to stop a runaway train. Their findings were published in the new issue of the Journal of Physics Special Topics, which is undoubtedly on pull lists everywhere.
Fan creates amazing Iron Man suits out of cardboard
I’ve been trying to recall if I ever made anything out of cardboard, and the best I can come up with is a diorama of The Winged Colt of Casa Mia for a book report in Mrs. Kester’s fifth-grade reading class. I’m pretty sure it received a good grade (let’s go with “A”), but it was surely nothing to write home about — and nothing compared to the amazing Iron Man armor this Reddit user creates.
He describes them, from left, as the Mark VI (from Iron Man 2), the deep space suit (based on a toy and rumored for Iron Man 3) and the Mark VIII (again, from Iron Man 3), and I’m inclined to believe him. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a winged horse to cut out ….
Man of faith dons Man of Tomorrow for children’s Mass
Father Humberto Alvarez isn’t a typical Catholic priest. Every Sunday, the 40-year-old dons a tunic emblazoned with images of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, and, armed with a Super Soaker loaded with holy water, delivers a special Mass to the children of Saltillo, Mexico.
It’s an unconventional approach, but one that appears to work, drawing parishioners young and old to the service. Alvarez told Zocalo magazine, that he embraced the superheroes because, “We talk about attitudes of struggle and effort to achieve overcome fears, find peace and forgiveness.” He began using the water gun to bless the congregation following a series of fatal shootings in Saltillo.
While not everyone agrees with Alvarez’s tactics, he’s undaunted, saying, “Jesus was different and always sought justice, we must follow his example.”
Spider-Man has turned into a wedding (cake) crasher
When it comes to food-related television, I prefer Chopped, Top Chef and BBQ Pitmasters to the seemingly dozens of cake- and cupcake-decorating shows that dot the programming schedule. Therefore, I’m not familiar enough with the latest trends to guess where, or why, this originated, but apparently … hiding a little Spider-Man on your wedding cake is now a thing.
That’s according to Neatorama, which has been spotting edible wall-crawlers climbing out from underneath the fondant of otherwise normal cakes. Because what better to complete that four-tier cake with its hundreds of painstakingly crafted pink flowers than a tiny Wed-Head?
If it’s merely a concession to that nerdy bride or groom then why, as io9.com asks, is it always Spider-Man? Perhaps it’s some stealthy confectionery protest of “One More Day” …
Neil deGrasse Tyson got Thor’s hammer wrong? I say thee nay!
When rock-star astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson recently estimated the weight of Thor’s hammer to be the equivalent of 300 billion elephants — or 4.5 quadrillion pounds, if you prefer — some fans questioned not his scientific credentials but rather his knowledge of comic-book lore.
Never mind the enchantment that allows an individual, “if he be worthy,” to wield Mjolnir; there’s a matter of the material from which the hammer was forged: “neutron-star matter,” as Tyson contends, or the fabled Uru, as popular belief holds. Well, skeptics, you now have some high-caliber support in the form of Suveen Mathaudhu, a comics fan and, more importantly, a program manager in the materials science division of the U.S. Army Research Office.
Spider-Man arrested after Times Square fight with woman
Life isn’t easy for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, particularly if your neighborhood is Times Square.
Philip Williams, who’s just one of two wall-crawlers who lurk around the New York City tourist magnet charging for photos, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly punched a 44-year-old mother who refused to pay him for posing with her two kids.
The New York Post reports the woman stormed off to find her husband, intent on revenge. But upon her return … she angrily confronted the wrong Spider-Man. “A woman came to me and said, ‘What did you do to me, you fucker?’” the other webhead told the newspaper. “Her husband came over and said it was a different Spider-Man. They went over to the other one and started fighting.”
With that web of confusion untangled, the husband beat the 35-year-old Williams with a backpack until police arrived and hauled Spidey away, proving once again that J. Jonah Jameson was right.