When Rogers: The Musical appeared in the first episode of Hawkeye on Disney+, everybody had a good laugh at the idea of turning the life of Captain America Steve Rogers into a Broadway musical, but it’s unlikely anybody had any idea quite what had been unleashed. Now, Rogers: The Musical is a real thing at Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort. The one song that appeared on the show has been expanded into a 30-minute production, which includes Captain America singing with himself and a showstopping number by Nick Fury.
I attended a Q&A panel as part of a media preview for Rogers: The Musical where Dan Fields, Executive Creative Director with Disney Live Entertainment, admitted he wasn’t sure how Kevin Feige would react to the idea of a singing and dancing Nick Fury. The response he got, however, was absolutely perfect. Fields explained…
The work that this team did, we took it to Kevin Feige to share with him for the first time. I was a little nervous about telling him that Nick Fury sings. Kevin’s just, ‘Nick Fury sings? That should be on the billboard.’ He said, ‘Embrace that, lean into that.
One could certainly imagine the idea of a singing Nick Fury being a bridge too far for Kevin Feige. Fury as played by Samuel L. Jackson is usually the most self-serious member of the MCU. The version of Nick Fury who just debuted at Avengers Campus is exactly this version of the character. If that's the image Feige wants Fury to have, then it's understandable why Dan Fields was nervous about showing the producer something very different.
Instead, maybe because Feige is a huge Disney Parks fan, he apparently thought the idea was so great that it should be advertised. It’s not “on the billboard” as it were, but the show does promote it. The Starkettes, who open the show and act as a sort of Greek chorus throughout the performance make sure to note that “Nick Fury sings” as part of the opening number. That line alone brought a cheer from the audience at my preview, made up of both media and Disneyland Resort Cast Members.
And it’s a solid number. Nick Fury sings the song “What You Missed,” a patter song where Fury tries to catch Steve Rogers up on everything he missed in the time he was frozen, by listing everything from I Love Lucy to Star Wars. It’s one of the highlights of the show, but honestly, all the music is pretty good.
Rogers: The Musical is something unique. I got to see the show in a special preview yesterday before it begins showing to the public today, and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the Marvel musical. Fans of the MCU should have a blast but it's likely fans of musicals that will enjoy themselves the most.
Rogers: The Musical will be running at Disney California Adventure Tuesday-Saturday from June 30 to August 31. After that, it’s unclear if we’ll ever see the show again.
