Long Lost Plans For Costumes

Any Broadway show takes an enormous amount of planning. A Broadway musical takes even more. Compare early sketches of costumes to the final version!

Ebay offered up yet another "It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman©" treasure.
We've found some of the original plans for costuming the actors.
Let's see how these initial plans compare to the costumes that actually made it to Broadway.

SUPERMAN

The original sketch of Superman's costume. As you browse through the other costume sketches, you'll find that this one has a unique look. All other sketches are presented on a dull blue background; Superman has been painted in watercolors on a creamy white background. The style is similar. Unlike the other sketches in this series, there is no fabric swatch attached to the painting. We believe this watercolor was painted by Florence Klotz (please see footnote) despite the difference in style from our other sketches.

These three photos give us the best comparison between the original sketch and Bob Holiday’s actual costume. Note that Bob’s cape hits right at the bend of his knees; the sketch shows the cape quite a bit higher. The location of the cape on Bob’s shoulders is quite a bit more narrow than what is drawn The boots are true to the sketch, close fitting with a V-notch at the top.The trunks and belt are also true to the sketch.

The biggest difference between the preliminary sketch and Bob’s costume is the Superman S-shield, best seen in the center photo. As drawn, the S-shield is quite small. The size is reminiscent of George Reeves’s S-shield, which was designed to fit well on a small television screen. But in a Broadway show, Superman’s S has to be seen from the highest balcony seats. This necessitated creating a large S-shield, probably the largest of the live-action costumes to date.

Not only was Bob Holiday’s S-shield the largest, it was unique in another way. Comparing all the live-action costumes for Superman, the lower point of Bob Holiday’s S-shield appears to be the most curved. The original sketch, however, shows ram-rod straight lines on all five sides of the S-shield. Another difference? The original sketch shows a top-heavy “S” while the actual costume was a bottom-heavy “S”; the contrast is stark.

This photo of Superman in action reveals the harness used to make Superman fly or, in this case, jump higher than any mortal man. At the of the S-shield, you can see the indentation of the harness as Bob is lifted off the ground to avoid being hit by a weapon on the ground. Comparing this obvious indentation to other photos where Bob is standing on terra firma, you start to realize what it took to make a 200-poind actor defy gravity on cue.

I’ve included these two photos because they’ve bothered me for years. On the left, you see a photo captured by one of the official photographers for the show, Van Williams. On the right, you see the same photo, in color, scanned from the back of Superman on Broadway. In neither of these photos does Bob look quite human—or Kryptonian. His features look waxen and somewhat greenish. Did the producers create a life-size figure of Superman to display on this larger-than-life newspaper? Or was this photo taken on a day when Bob’s stage make-up had not been applied? Was the lighting simply off kilter? Or did Bob's image get distorted when it was placed, bigger than life, on the front page of the Daily Planet. It’s a question I wish I’d asked Bob when I had the chance.

One final photo shows something I’d never noticed before. When I saw the show on Broadway, I was entranced by Clark Kent’s clothing flying down from above the balcony straight into Superman’s hands. The clothing distracted me long enough that I did not notice Superman had removed his cape. But looking closely at the picture, you can see that Clark Kent’s tie is in his shirt pocket. Looking even more closely, you see that Superman’s cape is gone. It’s another question I wish I’d asked Bob while I had the chance. I’d loved to have known how Superman removed his cape while donning his Clark Kent disguise.

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Footnotes:
"Costumes by Florence Klotz"
per the "It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman©" program.
While the sketch is unsigned, the style is quite similar to known sketches by Ms. Klotz.
Also in the program are the following notes (CREDITS, p.40)
Wardrobe Mistress ........ Lillian Beuttel
Costumes executed by Costume Associates, Inc.
Shoes for Superman and the Flying Lings by LaRay Boot Shop.
Other shoes by Capezio.
Misses Marand's-Lavin's hats by Archie Eason.
Stockings by Jessie Zimmer.
Fabrics by Julian Tomchin.
Raincoats courtesy of Fashions by Claudia
Miss Marand's yellow ensemble by Bill Blass for Maurice Rentner, Ltd.
Miss Marand's eyelashes by Eylure.
First Act Finale costumes executed by Grace Costume Co.
Handbags by Coblentz.
Men's shirts by Excello.
Men's hose by Marum.
Superman Sweat shirts courtesy of Allison Mfg. Co.
Raincoats courtesy of Fashion by Claudia.
Watches by Sheffield.
What a super team was needed simply to clothe the cast!