1966 - It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman
With Superman's success in comic books, newsprint, radio, animation, film and television, it was only natural for The Man of Steel to take the singing leap onto the theater stage. A musical number clearly inspired by "Bye, Bye, Birdie", "It's A Bird...It's A Plane...It's Superman" featured a broad shouldered and gallant Bob Holiday as the caped Kryptonian. Belting out songs with titles like "Doing Good", and featuring lyrics like "every man has a job to do, well back into the old Clark Kent disguise, I'll never stop doing good". This musical opened to rave reviews albeit it's relatively short 129-show run, lasting only four months from March to June in 1966.
To give theater attendees the impression of Superman taking flight, the previously-forbidden wires were used to give Superman air. Critics attest to Holiday's convincing portrayal of a dual role of making The Last Son of Krypton "a physical reality" in front of everyone's eyes.
After the original run came to a close, there were two revivals of "It's A Bird...", both in 1967 in Kansas and Missouri respectively, and both featuring Holiday ripping open bounteous button-downs to reveal the "S" beneath. These well-attended and reviewed theatrical Superman rebirths in '67 also took place in outdoor open-air facilities, allowing a crane to be utilized to propel Superman into the skies!