It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's the Reason Why Last Night's Superman Was Canceled

By Elaine Liner Fri., Jul. 16 2010 at 11:02 AM

Categories: Stage

Brandon Thibodeaux

Cara Serber and Patrick Cassidy in the revisal of It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's Superman!

Villain Max Mencken's tired vocal cords forced the cancellation of last night's performance of It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! at the Dallas Theater Center. Actor Patrick Cassidy, who plays Superman's nemesis, was ordered by a doc to go on "vocal rest" for a couple of days. With no understudy for Cassidy waiting in the wings, DTC called off the show.

Patrons were met at the door to the Wyly Theatre last night by members of the DTC house staff, who invited them to exchange their tickets for any other performance (the musical runs through July 25). They also offered disappointed theatergoers free tix for last night's performance of Disney's Beauty & the Beast across the street at the Winspear Opera House (which tells you how well that show is selling).

Choreographer Joel Ferrell will go on for Cassidy at tonight's performance, said DTC PR guy Jacob Cigainero. Cassidy is expected to step back into the show this weekend.

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We were lucky enough to see the Fabulous Ferrell in action on Sunday. His smarm/charm was in perfect balance, his chemistry with the cast was wonderful, and to see Joel dance and sing again was a major delight. Sometimes an unfortunate loss can be an audience gain, a unique performance that is so special in live theater.
Jason, I'd be shocked if they didn't exchange tickets for all of that night's patrons, regardless of subscription or not. It's one thing when a ticket holder wants to exchange performances due to some personal reasons, and quite another when the organization cancels the whole performance. DTC really has no choice in a situation like this, given that it's their cancellation, and the ticket holders have no power over the situation. Also, defeat plaza: It is much more common for theater productions done in this area to not have understudies than to have them. I would think Dallas Theater Center would be more likely than most area theaters to have understudies lined up, but even they probably don't do so customarily. Clearly they didn't in this case. A situation like this, with an actor really unable to go on, is relatively rare, and the added expense to have roles covered would be pretty high for DTC. It would be less so for most other theaters around here, where actors are either not paid or are paid only a very small sum. Many actors might not be interested in making that kind of commitment of time, effort and expense merely to understudy though.
I went to opening night of Beauty and the Beast and was told it was a sell-out. BS, it was perhaps 85 percent filled. Scattered empty seats throughout the house. I looked at the number of performances scheduled in there, can Dallas really fill that many seats to a production such as this? Would you pay $120 per seat (top price for a seat)for your kid to see Belle et al? My kid would get a trip to the Disney Store.
Jason, once is enough!
Were all patrons allowed to exchange their tickets for any other performance or just subscriber patrons? I ask because the AT&T PAC has a pretty draconian ticket exchange policy.
Were all patrons allowed to exchange their tickets for any other performance or just subscriber patrons? I ask because the AT&T PAC has a pretty draconian ticket exchange policy.
Were all patrons allowed to exchange their tickets for any other performance or just subscriber patrons? I ask because the AT&T PAC has a pretty draconian ticket exchange policy.
Is it common for shows of this magnitude to launch without understudies for major roles? I'd be pretty pissed if I were a ticket holder.