"Superman II" Lives--Live

Wednesday night in the Chino, California, you will believe that Christopher Gomez can fly. Probably.

"I guess it all depends on the imagination of the audience," says Gomez, a 24-year-old college student set to star in a two-act, live theatrical version of Superman II.

And when we write Superman II, we don't mean Death of a Salesman and said to heck with retyping. We mean Superman II--Man of Steel, General Zod, the Fortress of Solitude, etc.

The production at Chino's Seventh Street Theatre is scheduled to run but one night. Which is probably for the best because Gomez is but one man.

In an act of questionable courage, and with confidence that "I'm just making an ass of myself," Gomez will play all parts, and recite all dialogue from the 1981 Christopher Reeve film.

Or, as Gomez promises: "I'm going to be moving all over the stage."

The show is in the tradition of Canadian actor Charles Ross' cult hits, One Man Star Wars Trilogy and One Man Lord of the Rings. But when asked what inspired him to take to the stage as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Gomez cites not Ross, but Reeve.

"I wanted to do the show one year after Christopher Reeve had passed on," Gomez says of the Superman star, who died on Oct. 10, 2004, at age 52. "I thought it would be an interesting way of paying my respects."

Interesting, yes. Gomez, a film student with acting aspirations at Chaffey College, once starred in a local production of West Side Story, but he only played Tony. He has never before mounted a one-man show.

So, why start the solo career with Superman II, as opposed to, say, Superman: The Movie?

Says Gomez: "We just thought it'd be funnier."

But the show is more than lark. For one thing, proceeds from paying customers' $2 tickets are to be donated to the Red Cross' Hurricane Katrina fund. For another thing, Gomez boasts a genuine affection for the film, which he says he's seen so many times that he's lost count.

When it comes to devotion to Superman II, Gomez, for once, is not alone. Fans of the sequel don't just like the movie--they want to save it.

"I think it is one of the great lost films," says Barry Freiman, a contributing writer/editor for Superman Homepage.

Boasting one of Hollywood's more interesting and/or frustrating back stories, Superman II was a movie twice made: First, by Richard Donner, who helmed the 1978 franchise-starter; and secondly, by Richard Lester, who reshot and completed the film after Donner was fired.

It's estimated Donner's version was 70-80 percent complete when the project was restarted--a tantalizing statistic for the faithful who dream of seeing the "lost" work of Reeve, Margot Kidder (as Lois Lane), Gene Hackman (as Lex Luthor) and Marlon Brando (as Jor-El, Superman's birth father).

The fan site Superman Cinema has been at the forefront in lobbying Warner Bros. to release "the real" Superman II. Even a new Superman II DVD featuring the considerable Donner footage as bonus tracks would appease. While Warners has yet to budge, Superman Cinema founder Dharmesh promised the demand is there.

"We are not talking about a certain demographic, or genre fans," Dharmesh said in an email interview. "The film fan community is willing this project to go ahead."

Some hope Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer's own de facto take on Superman II (his film, due out next summer, essentially picks up where Donner's first movie left off), will provide Warners with incentive to open the vaults. Already, the studio has given Singer access to the unused footage of Brando, clearing the way for the late actor, who died in 2004, to revive his paternal role in the new movie.

Back in Chino, Gomez says he'd look forward to a new Superman II. But for now, for Wednesday night, it is the "old" Superman II that will be center stage.

Gomez plans on "subtle costume changes"--a hat here, a hat there--to portray everyone from a nuclear terrorist to bombshell Eve Teschmacher. As for the love scenes between Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane? "I do have it figured out," he says. "It's really tough to explain it, though."

Easier to explain is Gomez' flying technique. In the movies, Reeve took to the sky with the help of bluescreen technology. On stage, Gomez will stand on one leg. And slap his cape.

Gomez, who originally resisted telling the theater what he had planned ("I was kind of embarrassed"), does not envision a career of one-legged, cape-slapping. "Hopefully," he says, "I'd like to move onto something else."

And, no, he doesn't mean Superman III.