The Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure had mostly sat empty in recent years, but is now finally entertaining guests once more as the home of a very well-received new show that many had hoped could become a reality before it was even announced – Rogers: The Musical.
After the first episode of 2021’s Hawkeye series found Clint Barton attending the premiere of a Broadway musical based on the life of his Avengers pal, Steve Rogers, complete with a look at one of the show’s big numbers, “Save the City,” fans couldn’t help but speculate about the show actually being produced. And while some pondered the possibilities of it becoming a real life Broadway show, many others realized an ideal home for it would be at the Hyperion, which rests right up against the Avengers Campus area at California Adventure.
Now, Rogers: The Musical has indeed come to life at the Hyperion, performed by a very talented cast, and after checking out the show during its current limited run, and finding myself quite delighted by the results, I asked Dan Fields (executive creative director, Disney Live Entertainment) some questions via email, beginning with how quickly after Hawkeye debuted it was also occurring to them that this show would be a good fit.
Said Fields, “From the moment we saw ‘Save the City’ in the Hawkeye series, we were like every fan that said, ‘I want to see the rest of it.’ Then we realized, ‘Hey! We’re Disney Live Entertainment. We can do that!’ We started talking to our partners at the Studio and at the park, and pretty soon we had a green light to go. It’s been very exciting.”
A PARODY AND YET…
Rogers: The Musical is very impressive, fitting a lot into its brief half hour running time (more on that below) while deftly riding a fine line. As glimpsed in Hawkeye, there is clearly an element of parody here with the idea that within the MCU, Steve Rogers would be given a Hamilton-esque Broadway show, done in a purposely fun and over the top manner – complete with things altered from “real” life, like Ant-Man being part of the Avengers during the Battle of New York. However, if you want to just enjoy it as a short tribute to a beloved person – er, character – it’s rather effective as well, using the Steve and Peggy Carter relationship as its main emotional core while also effectively portraying Steve in his early days as physically meek but always a hero within. (Unlike in the films, different actors play Steve before and after the Super Soldier Serum, in a clever manner that really pays off in the conclusion).
When it came to that mixture of parody and earnestness, Fields said they absolutely wanted it to function on both levels, remarking, “The ‘Save the City’ number was definitely campy, but if every scene in the show was like that, it wouldn’t have been as fun as people might think. There’s a moment of electricity in the audience during Young Steve’s song, ‘I Want You,’ when the audience simultaneously realizes that they are hearing Captain America’s mantra and also that this is a real musical.”
“You know I can do this all day!
BECAUSE SOMEHOW, SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE, SOME WAY
4F BECOMES 1A
THEN YOU’LL SEE THAT I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
I’LL RISE UP TALL AND LOOK ‘EM IN THE EYE
AND THERE I’LL BE TO FIGHT AGAINST INJUSTICE
LEND A HAND, AND STAND UP FOR THE LITTLE GUY
AND THEN I’LL SHOW YOU EVERYTHING I’M MADE OF
AND THEN YOU’LL KNOW THERE’S NOTHING I’M AFRAID OF…”
-lyrics from “I Want You” in Rogers: The Musical
MCU fans will of course recognize “Save the City” (written for Hawkeye by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman) and “Star Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger (written by Alan Menken & David Zippel), plus the use of the familiar musical themes for Captain America and Avengers, both written by Alan Silvestri.
However, there are also five brand new songs in the show, including the aforementioned “I Want You,” all featuring music by Christopher Lennertz and lyrics by Peterson, Lennertz, and Alex Karukas, which performed by everyone from Cap himself to Peggy Carter to, in memorable fashion, Nick Fury, the latter of whom catches Steve up on a few decades of life and pop culture in the very entertaining number, “What You Missed.”
30-ISH MINUTES
There is a funny line in the opening number of Rogers: The Musical, by one of the trio of “Starkettes” – this show’s very engaging version of a greek chorus – that makes a meta reference to the fact that Steve’s story is about to be told, as best as can be done, within 30 minutes. Asked if a longer version of the show was considered, Fields replied, “There’s a lot our guests want to do during a visit to Disney California Adventure, so we really tried to keep the show tight so they can come in, have a great time, and then go on with their day. We didn’t quite get it to ’30 minutes or less’ – the show is actually closer to 35 minutes – but there were certain scenes we just had to include.”
With that running time, a lot of big elements understandably need to be skipped over – the Avengers Civil War for instance – while making sure there is an emotional throughline to the story. There can be frustrating aspects to this, such as Sam Wilson not appearing in the show as an onstage character at all (though he does get a notable visual reference at least, acknowledging his importance to the Captain America legacy), in order to keep things streamlined.
Fields said that when it came to debating what should be included, “It was a lot of fun discussing all the ways to frame up Cap’s life story. But as we balanced humor with heart, it became obvious that Steve’s relationship with Peggy could be the central arc. As book writer Hunter Bell likes to say, love stories make for great musicals.”
MUSICAL MARVEL
One visually creative sequence in Rogers shows Steve building his reputation through his World War II adventures via life-size comic book covers he moves through, complete with era-accurate Timely Comics logos, the original name of the company that would become Marvel. Said Fields, of that and other clever flourishes, “So many of those brilliant ideas came from the minds of our show director, Jordan Peterson, and book writer, Hunter Bell. How do we cover Cap’s experience in World War II in the broad brushstrokes of a musical, and how do we honor Cap’s origins in the comics? We combined to solve both challenges.”
As mentioned earlier, though not officially a part of Avengers Campus, the Hyperion Theater is located right up against it, allowing it to pretty easily be integrated – even on a temporary basis – into the location via Rogers: The Musical… and perhaps future productions? For now, Fields was coy on future possibilities, simply saying “Just like in Super Hero comics, anything can happen. We’ll have to wait and see. We’re always looking for new ways to surprise and entertain our guests.”
Rogers: The Musical is also a full circle moment for Captain America for another reason that has nothing to do with this specific show’s origins in Hawkeye but rather the fact that in the 1980s, a Captain America Broadway musical was in development but never occurred. Said Fields, of those attempts finally paying off, “I think they were onto something back then. It’s a great story to tell in musical form.”
The show is now entering the second and final month of its announced two-month run at the Hyperion. Considering how well it has been received, it’s hard not to wonder if it could get an extension. Fields had no news on that front currently, though he did note, “We couldn’t be happier with the response so far!”
Rogers: The Musical can be seen multiple times a day, Tuesdays through Saturdays, at the Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, currently scheduled to conclude on August 31.
