BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The Encores! concert series presents a snazzy revival of a really obscure Broadway musical in its delightful staging of “It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman,” a tongue-in-cheek salute to the iconic comic book hero that did not quite catch on with audiences in 1966 and folded after 129 showings.

Opening on Wednesday for a brief run at New York City Center, “Superman” features a light and perky score with a decidedly mid-Sixties pop music sensibility by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams that includes the catchy semi-hit number “You’ve Got Possibilities.”

The script by David Newman and Robert Benton is fairly silly, but as sharply edited by Jack Viertel, it is an upbeat diversion that sees Superman dogged by a mad scientist even as his romance with Lois Lane cools off and his popularity with the masses goes south.

Whatever, this irreverent musical treatment of a super-hero is a lot more fun than that somber “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

John Rando, one of the cleverest directors around, provides a high-energy concert staging of the musical that remains true to its cartoon nature without tripping into total camp. John Lee Beatty’s cut-out scenic bits for Metropolis and Ken Billington’s sharply-cued lighting for it are luridly tinted in comic book colors.

Perched in an upstage bandstand above a skyline, music director Rob Berman’s 27-member orchestra really goes to town with Eddie Sauter’s zingy original orchestrations; it’s great to hear a vintage score played full-out under Berman’s lively hand. The bright musical treatment enhances Strouse’s cheerful music and Adams’ often funny lyrics.

Togged out in representative Sixties clothes by Paul Tazewell, a top-notch company personably depicts the characters. Tall, dark and everything else super, Edward Watts looks sweetly befuddled as Clark Kent and the self-doubting Man of Steel.  Jenny Powers makes for a spunky Lois.

Notable others in the Daily Planet newsroom include the sassy Alli Mauzey in a beehive hairdo as a gal forever seeking “Possibilities” and a glittering Will Swenson as a wonderfully sleazy gossip columnist. A fearlessly mugging David Pittu appears demented in the sweetest way possible as the vengeful scientist who sings about the ten times he lost the Nobel Prize.

Plenty of American Bandstand-style dance moves are created by “Smash” choreographer Joshua Bergasse and the ensemble performs them all neatly. Impressive acrobatic bouts are executed (as part of the dastardly plot) by Craig Henningsen, Suo Liu, Jason Ng and Scott Weber. All of Superman’s flying sequences are accomplished by cartoon cut-outs and the audience roared every time he soared across the blue. It’s an appropriately comic effect for this cute musical that the Encores! series has revived so winningly.

“It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman” continues through Sunday at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th St., New York. Call (212) 581-1212 or visit www.nycitycenter.org.