Disneyland has announced an opening date for its new production of Rogers: The Musical at Disney California Adventure.
Disney is transforming the faux-Broadway show that fans saw during the premiere of the Hawkeye TV show on Disney+ into an actual 30-minute production for DCA's Hyperion Theater. That's the huge theater next to Avengers Campus that most recently hosted Frozen - Live at the Hyperion, which never reopened following the parks' return after the lockdown.
Rogers: The Musical will open June 30 at Disney California Adventure for what Disney is calling a limited run. The show will play Tuesday through Saturday most weeks, going dark on Mondays.
"A classic tale of heroes, time travel and romance, the musical will take audiences on a journey from Steve’s humble beginnings during World War II to becoming Captain America, leading the Avengers and beyond," Disney said in its press release.
Of course, part of the appeal of the Hawkeye version was just how campy and inappropriate its version of Rogers: The Musical was in comparison with the fake-real-life Battle of New York that it depicted. That Clint Barton was the only Avenger who showed up for its premiere just served to show both his alienation from the group as well as how the group was not embracing that production. The joke of a musical helped set the characterization and tone for the series that followed
Disney's actual Rogers: The Musical serves a much different purpose - the actually entertain a theme park crowd while ultimately not undermining the franchise whose land its theater stand next to. That is going to demand that Disney Live Entertainment take a somewhat different approach to its Rogers: The Musical. Yes, it's still got to be funny and campy and recreate the Battle of New York scene that everyone expects. Campy fun is part of the Marvel DNA, so there's room for that. But so are adrenaline-pumping moments and big emotional wins, so expect Disney to work to deliver those in its 30-minute production as well.
We will see how well Disney does with all this in June.
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I'm already suspecting this is going to go from "limited" to a longer engagement as it can be a crowd pleaser.
The Disneyland Resort desperately needs a people-eating attraction in the Hyperion Theater again to help balance crowd levels across the two parks. There is perhaps no more popular franchise than the Avengers in Disney's arsenal right now, so if this show works, it could be a great thing even for Disneyland Resort visitors who never bother to see it.
I think because it is going to be running during the summer, there will be a TON of people who will go specifically to sit inside an air conditioned environment for 30 minutes.
The show will be promoted, so I expect DLR regulars & Marvel fans to turn out (and then post on social media)but we can't underestimate the "casual" tourist who, even if they aren't a super fan or familiar with the Hawekey origins of the show... will happily take a 30 minute indoor / seated break
The One Act, 30 minute runtime, is perfect because it won't take a sizable chunk of time out of the day, and again...it is summer.
Man, I kind of get Creature from the Black Lagoon vibes from this. You all remember that from USH up the road? Back in like 2009/10.
Hopefully it's a winner...still miss Aladdin though. Best theme park show ever.
A musical about a superhero is like a stunt spectacular starring a princess. It's crossing the streams in the wrong way.
But hey, I hope people up in droves and help reduce wait times elsewhere.
It should give them a good chance to use the new Hulk costume they developed for the climactic “Hulk Smash!” moment at the end of the main title song
Manny's comments reminds me that I was probably the only person in the entire world who actually liked USH's Creature from the Black Lagoon show and gave it a positive review.
So remember that when I get around to reviewing this one! Heh....
When Captain America throws his mighty shield....
Any insight into why the show is Tuesday - Saturdays, leaving the theater dark on Sundays (as well as Mondays)? Seems odd choice to not have entertainment on weekend day.
This show should have a huge cast. There’s a lot to cover in Cap’s story, and hopefully there’s a good amount of representation of Cap in WWII to go along with his modern day Avengers story.
Another sadly mediocre replacement that only makes us miss Aladdin all the more.
A superhero musical?? Maybe that would work as a parody...
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Ultimately, I think it will come down to how much effort Disney wants to put into this production to really sell it as part of the Avengers CAMPUS universe. Both Frozen and Aladdin were elaborate productions with tons of tech involved to make them such dazzling spectacles worthy of seeing every time you visited the park. However, the limited run announced for this concerns me that the production will be relatively bare bones, relying more on the material and talent to carry the day. IP can certainly carry a lot of weight - we just saw Back to the Future: The Musical in London, which is coming to Broadway later this summer, and while the IP brought a lot to the table, for me it was the technical aspects of that production that allowed the performance to excel.
Now, if Disney is willing to invest into the tech and special effects to make this limited production feel like a true Broadway show, it will be a crowd-pleaser. However, if they make it look and feel like a campy high school production, I'm not sure how many people will be carving out time in their busy theme park day at the Hyperion. I could also see Disney potentially adapting the "theater" scenes from Taika Waititi's Thor movies for a similar treatment in the future (though the appeal of those is more from the cameo appearances than the actual material).