"I could do this all day."
"Who can save us?" a city sings
We need the hope that salvation brings
You have the power to find the light
Avengers assemble and fight the fight!
We need the hope that salvation brings
You have the power to find the light
Avengers assemble and fight the fight!
—Lead New Yorkers, "Save the City"
Rogers: The Musical is a biographical stage musicalnote based on Steven Grant Rogers, the first Captain America, with music penned by Marc Shaiman (Hairspray). The original Broadway production premiered at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 2024.
It chronicles Steve Rogers's life and times, including how he banded together with the Avengers for the first time to take down the dreaded Loki during the Battle of New York.
It was originally scheduled to premiere in 2019, until the Blip (which resulted in the loss of half its cast and crew) delayed its opening to 2024.
(Note: As mentioned above, this is a Just for Fun page for a hypothetical, In-Universe production of the show. For details on the defictionalized production at Disney's California Adventure, go here.)
The musical provides examples of:
- Adapted Out:
- Wanda was removed from the show during pre-production due to the Westview incident. This caused her to not appear in the the fight against Ultron and both fights against Thanos despite how big of a part she reportedly played in those incidents. Her brother Pietro and his sacrifice were also removed as a consequence. There have been arguments that she should have stayed for historical accuracy but it was also been pointed out that the show is far from historical accurate in the first place.
- Spider-Man was briefly removed from the show due to controversy surrounding the death of Mysterio. He was later put back in after being cleared of all charges and public pressure, which led to immense scrutiny and boycotting from Mysterio supporters and an infamous bashing from the Daily Bugle.
- Arc Words: "I can/could do this all day."
- Artistic License – History: Ant-Man was not a founding member of the Avengers, nor was he present during the Battle of New York. Despite this, the show includes him in the original lineup.
- Big Eater: Tony takes a minute during the team's huddle to invite everyone out to shawarma once the battle's over. This is a case of Truth in Television, since the Avengers did allegedly eat at a shawarma place following their victory.
- The Big Rotten Apple: The citizens note the trash, high rent, and stink in New York, but love it anyway.
- BSoD Song: "I Can’t Do This All Day", sung by Steve in the aftermath of Thanos winning.
- Crowd Song:
- "The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan", sung by a chorus of ladies during the montage of Steve going around on USO tours.
- "Save the City", the show's Act One finale. It features all of the Avengers, Loki and the Chitauri, and an entire ensemble of New York citizens.
- Dark Reprise:
- "Saturday at Eight (Reprise)" has very similar lyrics to the original sung by both Steve and Peggy, but in a slower, sadder tone as a heartbroken Steve prepares to execute his fateful sacrifice to save the United States.
- "War Buddies (Reprise)", which plays when Steve realizes just who is the Winter Soldier.
- "I Am Iron Man (Reprise)", sung by Tony as he sacrifices himself to stop Thanos.
- Distanced from Current Events:
- Wanda was removed from the show early in pre-production due to the Westview incident.
- Spider-Man was briefly removed after he was accused for the death of Mysterio. He was later put back in.
- Divine Race Lift: Loki, the Norse God of Mischief, is portrayed by an African-American actor in the original cast.
- Final Love Duet: "One Dance (Reprise)" as Steve and Peggy reunite.
- Friendship Song:
- "War Buddies" between Bucky and Steve.
- "On Your Left" between Steve and Sam.
- "I Am Great!" Song: Tony gets a number all to himself in the form of "I Am Iron Man", in which he boasts of his wealth, his technological genius, his company's influence and size, and the massive number of suits he invented.
- Incredibly Long Note: Captain America gets the bulk of these in “Save the City”.Cap: "I could do this all... DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!"
- In Memoriam: One performance was dedicated to the death of King T'Challa of Wakanda, complete with Black Panther's actor giving a speech in dedication during the closing bows.
- In the Hood: Hulk's costume in the musical gives him a green hoodie.
- "I Want" Song: "Just a Kid From Brooklyn", which takes Steve's desire for greatness despite his initial frailty.
- Lighter and Softer: The show tastefully puts a positive spin on an otherwise tragic disaster by playing up the bravery and heroism of the Avengers. It also emphasizes the power of community, with the optimistic spirit of New York's citizens playing a key role in "Save the City".
- Melancholy Musical Number: "One Dance" when Steve wakes up in modern times and realizes he broke his promise to Peggy.
- Mr. Fanservice: Thor and Captain America, just like in real life. A lyric in “Save the City” shamelessly describes them as "easy on the eyes".
- Musical Interruptus: As Steve and Peggy promise each other about their dance in "Saturday at Eight (Reprise)", the stage suddenly cuts to black, as does the music which abruptly stops, signalling that the HYDRA plane has crashed into the Arctic ice.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Each Avenger is introduced with a line describing their awesome feats ("Hulk is incredible", "Thor is a god", and so on). Then there's Hawkeye, who's brought up last and casually described as "a really nice guy".
- My God, What Have I Done?: "Til the End of the Line", sung by Bucky after he regains his identity and he goes off to save Steve.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: For the sake of practicality (and possibly due to budget), the costumes for most of the Avengers have been toned down significantly.
- Tony Stark's Iron Man suit is represented by a black jacket and a red shirt with an "arc reactor" printed on the chest.
- Captain America's suit forgoes the helmet entirely (again, for practical reasons) and replaces the body suit with a blue leather jacket and a shirt sporting the famous star insignia.
- Rather than use a giant foam costume or puppet for the Hulk, the show boils his appearance down to a green hoodie and face paint. His actor relies heavily on his booming voice and mannerisms to recreate the Hulk's monstrous presence.
- The Ant-Man suit is given a casual “street” design with a red and black shirt, a grey sweater, and some red shades combined with a backwards cap to represent Lang’s ant-like helmet.
- Spider-Man's costume is simplified to being more of just a mask, a red T-shirt with a spider on it, and blue leggings.
- Quarreling Song: "Our Duty", sung by Iron Man and Captain America during the Civil War sequence.
- Race Lift:
- In the original cast, Loki and the Hulk are portrayed by Black actors, while the real life Loki and Dr. Banner are Caucasian, or in Loki's case is able to pass as Caucasian.
- Scott Lang, AKA Ant-Man II, who is caucasian, is portrayed by a Filipino actor.
- Song of Courage: Steve gets "For Our Country" as he rallies the Howling Commandos for their first mission.
- The Song Before the Storm: "At All Costs" sung by the team as they prepare to fight Thanos for the final battle.
- Triumphant Reprise: "For Everyone (When You're Gone)" is first sung by Steve as he and his team are solemnly promising to set things right by finding the Infinity Stones through the time machine Scott and Tony built. It gets a more grand reprise as the rest of the heroes (played by the ensemble) arrive to help Steve and his team fight Thanos.
- Villain Song: Each major villain has one. Red Skull has "My War", Loki gets "God of Mischief", and Thanos gets "Inevitable".
