Review: Disneyland delivers the Marvel musical you didn’t know you wanted or needed

If you’re a fan of musical theater and Marvel superheroes, then you’re going to absolutely fall in love with the new “Rogers: The Musical” coming to the Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure.

If you love one but not the other, then you’ll still be thrilled at the audacity and absurdity of smashing the two strange bedfellows together. If you don’t like either, then you should probably go ride the Incredicoaster — because “Rogers: The Musical” caters to two very big niche audiences, but probably won’t appeal to Broadway or Marvel novices.

Disneyland hosted a media preview of “Rogers: The Musical” on Thursday, June 29 in the Hyperion Theater at Disney California Adventure. The new 30-minute one-act stage show based on the life story of Captain America and starring Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Ant-Man and Hawkeye begins a limited run on Friday, June 30.

“Rogers: The Musical” is at times fun, funny, silly, poignant, determined and romantic with plenty of heart and energy. It’s utterly ridiculous to see Captain America sing a love song on a Broadway stage surrounded by sequined USO singers, star spangled dancers, Thor and Iron Man — but somehow it works. In short: This is the Marvel musical you didn’t know you were waiting for and won’t be able to stop talking about. The breezy and brisk theme park show expertly walks a fine line, taking itself seriously, but not too seriously.

At several points, the characters literally ask “What’s with all the singing and dancing?” As if they can’t believe it themselves. Avengers founder Nick Fury summarizes the out-of-body experience perfectly during his own musical number: “It’s a lot to take in.”

“If you love the Avengers, if you love musical theater or if you just want some fun entertainment, I think there’s something for everybody,” Disney Live Entertainment Choreographer Sarah Kobayashi said during a press conference.

Turning a single song in a Disney+ TV show from an inside joke meant for die-hard Marvel fans into a Broadway-style musical at Disney California Adventure presented as many challenges as it did opportunities for Disneyland’s creative team.

The Disney Live Entertainment creative team used the “Save the City” song in the “Hawkeye” TV series on the Disney+ streaming service as a jumping off point for “Rogers: The Musical.”

“We all saw that number in the ‘Hawkeye’ series on Disney+ and looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to do that,’” Disney Live Entertainment Executive Creative Director Dan Fields said. “It turns out all of the fans of this franchise were also doing the same thing online. They were practically demanding it.”

No matter how bizarre the notion, a Marvel musical seems like a perfect fit for Disneyland — especially with the Hyperion Theater sitting vacant a few steps away from the entrance to Avengers Campus.

“We’re live entertainment,” Fields said during an online video interview. “We have singers. We have dancers. We have superheroes right next door in our Avengers Campus. We’re already living in this world.”

Basing an entire musical on the “Save the City” musical number in the “Hawkeye” series raised as many questions as it answered.

“What would the rest of this Steve Rogers story be? How far back would it go? How do you tell his story and his arc? How do you reveal the true depth of the character over many decades as it turns out?” Fields said. “It was a really fun set of rhetorical conversations. There are so many ways we can tell this story.”

One key challenge for the Disney Live Entertainment team was translating comic book superhero action into Broadway-style song and dance numbers.

“The dance numbers kind of directed us. We start the show with Steve Rogers’ origin story in the 1940s,” Fields said. “You’ll find both some historic dance and choreography tropes there, but also some time-travel elements as well. We’re not locked hard and fast into a period.”

SEE ALSO: Is Disneyland’s Marvel musical part of the MCU?

The backstory of the new Marvel musical at DCA follows the journey of Steve Rogers from his service in World War II to becoming Earth’s first known superhero to the birth of the Avengers.

Marvel fans were introduced to the fictional “Rogers: The Musical” in the first episode of the Disney+ series “Hawkeye.” In the show, Hawkeye attends a performance of the Broadway musical about the life of Rogers, the first Captain America.

“In the show, all the Avengers are invited to New York for the premiere of the brand new, showstopping musical but only Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, shows up,” according to Marvel.com. “The MIA Avengers don’t know what they’re missing, though, as viewers are treated to a musical number based on The Battle of New York … though a few creative liberties have been taken here and there.”