A crowded street. An elderly woman. A masked robber. A recipe for disaster. What are the humble citizens of Metropolis to do? But wait! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman... the musical!
Leaping heroically onto the stage and clad in bright blue tights is Hoof 'n' Horn's Superman, which opens tonight and runs through Jan. 25. The 1966 Broadway production-a flop when it opened-stars Clark Kent as Metropolis' cheesy, monogrammed hero, Superman (senior Nate Jones) and his famous lady friend, the spunky Lois Lane (sophomore Chelsea Laverack). Then, of course, there are the villains, including the embittered 10-time Nobel Prize "loser," Dr. Abner Sedgewick (senior Christian Pikaart) and a troupe of silent but deadly mimes, otherwise known at the Jumping Jacques.
Superman battles his foes against a backdrop of complicated love triangles, tongue-in-cheek moral dilemmas and a solid base of nonstop laughs. Pulling from its 1950s setting, the show effortlessly pokes fun at itself, aided by an enthusiastic cast. This light-hearted comic-book-story-come-to-life is in the running to challenge even the newly popular Batman regime, said director Dan Lerman, Trinity '08.
"If they come and they don't laugh once, I'll give them their money back," he said.
Still not convinced? Lerman said humor is the central theme of the production.
"Our goal at the end of the day is to make people laugh," he said. "Comedy plays a huge role [in the show]."
Laverack added that the show's humor "is a great way to relieve stress... from work."
The show had a few false starts in the beginning, with the show's unconventional style and contrast from the successful fall run of Sweeney Todd scaring some prospective cast members off.
"No one wanted to touch it," explained Lerman, who finally stepped up to the plate after the original director backed out. Despite these troubles, cast and crew have managed to pull together to create a hilarious show. Stage manager Jared Blau, a junior and Hoof 'n' Horn president, said the organization chose the 42-year-old show because it was off the beaten path.
"It's a fun story," he said. "I think people like the '50s theme. People could really get into it. We could do really cool comic book things."
So, if you like singing, dancing, acting, comic books, superheroes, supervillains, mimes, the '50s, the '60s, the French, cute girls, creepy guys, sororities, cynicism, journalism, evil, good or laughter in general, hop the nearest speeding bullet (or just a C-1) to Sheafer Theater and see Superman. After all, as the show's big number says, "It's got possibilities."
Hoof 'n' Horn presents Superman Jan. 15, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 18, 24 and 25 at 2 p.m. in the Bryan Center's Sheafer Theater. Tickets are $8 for students and employees, $10 for the general public.
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