Disney California Adventure’s Broadway-Quality Theater Is Sitting Empty. We Want One of These 10 Shows to Debut There!

Beyond the incredible attractions at Disneyland, the resort is also known for its dazzling entertainment offerings. While nighttime spectaculars like Fantasmic!, World of Color, and the Disneyland fireworks are some of the most popular shows that garner a massive amount of attention from fans, the live entertainment at Disneyland is also not to be overlooked.

I grew up watching Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular at the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure, and it's safe to say that this was one of the most beloved entertainment offerings at the resort. The show opened in 2003 and ran until 2016, when it was replaced by Frozen – Live at the Hyperion. The show closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the theater sat empty for a few years until Rogers: The Musical had a very brief run in the summer of 2023. Many visitors (myself included) were expecting this to be extended, yet it never was, and the theater has again gone dormant in the months following.

This is one of the major experiences that never reopened after Disneyland's closure and are hoping that shows will return to the theater consistently one day. Of course, there is loads of potential for what type of show could come to the Hyperion, and we're sure that Disney would do an amazing job given the quality of shows here in the past.

We recently asked our Facebook followers which shows they'd like to see come to the Hyperion, and they weighed in with their responses! Keep reading for the shows we've love to see come to the Hyperion.

Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular

Unsurprisingly, a very common answer according to our Facebook followers was to bring back Aladdin! There's a reason why this show was so beloved during its lengthy run. The one-act musical hit all of the best highlights of the story without feeling rushed and was an absolutely magnificent spectacle at every turn.

It was hard to choose a favorite part between fun touches like the elephant coming up the aisle in the song “Prince Ali” and the magic of the flying carpet scene. The design of the show was incredible—growing up watching Aladdin, I was particularly transfixed by the entrance to the Cave of Wonder. The performers were always brilliant, especially the Genie who never failed to steal the show. The musical contained iconic songs from the film like “One Jump Ahead,” “Friend Like Me,” “A Whole New World,” and more. The Aladdin show never got old, and you could feel the love the audience had for it in every performance.

On our Facebook post, Lourdes Mondragon commented, “Bring back Aladin!!” Others weighed in like Sara Long, who shared, “I miss Aladdin! The way the genie kept things fresh was great!”

We wholeheartedly agree. We would love to see the Aladdin musical return and can't even fathom how well-received it would be if it did!

Tangled

Another show that fans would like to see at the Hyperion is Tangled! There is already a fun vaudeville-style Tangled show as part of the Storytelling at Royal Theater in Fantasyland that visitors really enjoy, but we would love to see this come to the Hyperion as a one-act Broadway-style musical.

There is a Disney Cruise Line performance of Tangled on the Disney Magic that touches upon highlights from the story with three new original songs, a beautiful design, and impressive puppetry that brings Maximus the horse to life. It also features favorites like “When Will My Life Begin,” “Mother Knows Best,” “I've Got a Dream,” “I See the Light,” and more. Though it may not be feasible to translate this exact version of the show to the Hyperion, it would be awesome to see a show like this adapted to the space.

There is so much potential for a Tangled musical, and it would surely be a huge hit with kids and adults alike. The characters are so much fun, there is a nice balance of comedy and more emotional/heavier moments, and the music is amazing. Personally, I would be super excited to see this story come to the Hyperion. Fans have been so excited about the increased representation of Tangled at parks overseas (including the first-ever Tangled ride at Fantasy Springs in Tokyo DisneySea), and this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight this popular story more at Disneyland.

Disney Parks shared a full video of the Disney Cruise Line show on YouTube a few years ago:

Encanto

Many Facebook commenters also shared that they would love to see an Encanto show come to the Hyperion. Gee Gee on Facebook commented,  “Encanto 💯! They have so many fun songs and can do so much with the Stage & Props. All ages would love it. 🤩”

With the popularity of this film and its songs, it makes a lot of sense for Disney to highlight it onstage. Disney World recently introduced an Encanto show at EPCOT that is more of a sing-along format, but it would be great to see this as a one-act musical. With the popularity of character meet-and-greets at the parks with Mirabel and Bruno, this seems like would be an obvious choice for the Hyperion.

The structure of the story lends itself well to a one-act format that can touch upon the most crucial elements of the plot and popular moments from the film. It's easy to imagine the songs that would be featured in this type of show—we could hear highlights like “The Family Madrigal,” “Waiting on a Miracle,” “Surface Pressure,” “We Don't Talk About Bruno,” and more. Given the success of “We Don't Talk About Bruno” in particular, it's actually quite surprising that this hasn't been brought to the stage in the same way that Frozen was.

It would also be a lot of fun to see Casita come to life onstage with all of its magical properties, and this would make for a really interesting translation from the screen to the stage. You could imagine how masterful lighting, projections, and special effects would bring iconic moments from the film to life like Isabela's revelation in “What Else Can I Do?” and Bruno's vision. I could easily see this becoming an amazing spectacle on par with Aladdin!

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Rogers: The Musical

Another returning show that visitors would love to see again is Rogers: The Musical. This ran for such a brief time last summer that many did not get the chance to see it. We were expecting it to return and have been surprised that it hasn't!

Kirk Hanson commented, “Bring back Rogers the Musical!” Others shared how they never got the opportunity to see the show before it closed. Joe Frock said, “I never got to see Rogers the Musical,” and Dawn Gomez shared, “Honestly, we would love to have a chance to see the Steve Rogers Musical. It closed played for what, two months? and closed two months before we arrived for vacation.”

Rogers: The Musical was a super fun show that was inspired by a scene from the show Hawkeye where Clint cringes as he watches a musical interpretation of the Battle of New York onstage. While the origins of the musical are rather funny, the end product that we witnessed in the Hyperion was definitely worth seeing. The show had a very bold and effective design filled with great special effects. I particularly loved how they pulled off Steve's transformation scene with the Vita-Ray chamber. I also appreciated how they efficiently touched upon the highlights of Steve Rogers' life and entered some emotional territory that they hadn't yet engaged with yet as Steve questions if he actually can “do this all day.”

You can see our review of Rogers: The Musical here. Given the effort that they put into this production, we would hope that they will bring it back one day!

Hercules

Another fun possibility for a show that could come to The Hyperion is Hercules! Several commenters mentioned Hercules could be a great choice, and it's easy to see why—the story is filled with catchy music, lovable characters, and a compelling plot. Interestingly, before we knew that the show coming to the Hyperion last summer was Rogers, many speculated based on the casting call from Disney Live Entertainment that it could be Hercules.

This show would be lots of fun to bring to life with songs like “Go the Distance,” “Zero to Hero,” “I Won't Say I'm in Love,” “The Gospel Truth,” and more. Hercules has plenty of flashy musical numbers that would appeal to kids as well as interesting characters (including one of the best Disney villains Hades), and humor that would appeal to an adult crowd.

Hercules was performed for several years on Disney Cruise Line as a vaudeville-style show called Hercules the Muse-ical, but it closed in 2005 on the Disney Magic and in 2008 on the Disney Wonder. In a DISboards discussion of the show a few years after its closing, many commenters shared their fond memories and wished it would return as a Disney Cruise Line offering. It is possible that this version of the show could be revived and adapted to a new space, but it has been sitting dormant for quite a bit of time now. If Disney did decide to bring a Hercules show to the Hyperion, it would probably be designed specifically for that space. Either way, a Hercules show at the Hyperion would doubtlessly be extremely popular!

Coco

Coco is another story that would make for a great addition to the Hyperion! Disney is already working to feature Coco onstage as they are introducing a Coco dinner show to Disney Cruise Line's newest ship the Disney Treasure, which will offer two different experiences depending on which night you see the show. This show, however, will not be a retelling of the events of the film like it would likely be for a show at the Hyperion.

The live-action Ernesto who appears as part of the Oogie Boogie Bash treat trails has always been a fan-favorite for visitors, so we can only imagine how brilliant this character would be onstage at the Hyperion. Because Miguel appears as a non-speaking character for meet-and-greets at the park, there would be a lack of continuity if he appeared onstage in live-action form, but it likely wouldn't be enough of a concern to stop Disney from doing it. Coco would doubtlessly be a particularly visually vibrant show onstage with fun costumes and scene design, and it could feature favorite songs from the film like “Remember Me,” “Proud Corazón,” “Un Poco Loco,” and more!

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast would be another great addition to the Hyperion. There is a stage performance of this story offered at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Disney World, Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage, and it appears in a shorter format in the the vaudeville-style show Storytelling at Royal Theater at Disneyland. Brandy Nolte Rodriguez commented, “I would love to see Beauty and the Beast! I know it’s at WDW but it was during pandemic when we went so I didn’t get to see it 😩 .”

We would likely not see the exact Disney World version of the show at the Hyperion, as the show's runtime is a little bit shorter than what shows would typically be there, and the space it's performed in is quite different. If Disney did decide to bring Beauty and the Beast to the Hyperion as a Broadway-style production, we imagine it would be quite the spectacle between the dancing enchanted objects and visually beautiful moments like the ballroom dance scene. The plot could be easily adapted into a one-act format without feeling overly rushed or drawn out. Like the Hollywood Studios version of the show, it could feature favorite numbers like “Belle,” “Be Our Guest,” “Something There,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and I think there's extra potential for some original songs for this story in particular.

Everyone loves Beauty and the Beast, and Belle is such an iconic Disney princess that featuring her story onstage at the Hyperion would without a doubt be appealing to any audience.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Another musical that guests think should come to the Hyperion is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. On Facebook, commenters expressed they'd like to see this show. Tiffany Reek commented, “Hunchback of Notre Dame. The music alone is outstanding.”

The Hunchback of Notre Dame has been performed as a live musical onstage in years past at the Disney Parks. The show ran at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios) at the Backstage Theater as Hunchback of Notre Dame—a Musical Adventure from 1996-2002, and it also was featured at Disneyland's former Big Thunder Ranch as the theater-in-the-round show The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Festival of Fools, which ran briefly from 1996 to 1998.

While it would be amazing to see this onstage with famous songs like “God Help the Outcasts,” “Out There,” “The Bells of Notre Dame,” and more, the story presents some challenges due to its darker tone and the heavier themes it tackles. We imagine it would be challenging to adapt this into a format for the Hyperion that would be suitable for audiences of all ages and still maintain its essence.

The Lion King

Fans commented that another story they would love to see at the Hyperion is The Lion King. The story of The Lion King was featured onstage at Disneyland as part of the show Tale of the Lion King which ran at Disney California Adventure and then at Fantasyland Theater in Disneyland Park before its recent closing. The story is told by the Storytellers of the Pride Lands, a troupe of traveling performers who present the story of The Lion King in a story-theater style with music and dance. In addition to the iconic opening number “Circle of Life,” the show featured highlights like “I Just Can't Wait to Be King,” “Hakuna Matata,” “Be Prepared,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and more.

It's unclear if this show will be returning after Pixar Fest ends in August, and it's unlikely that we will see this come to the Hyperion unless Disneyland has another experience in mind for Fantasyland Theater. Tale of the Lion King is designed for an outdoor theater that is considerably smaller than the Hyperion, so we are unlikely to see this exact version of the story come to that space.

Another possibility is to bring a one-act Broadway-style performance of The Lion King to the Hyperion. With more than one show based on this story already present at the theme parks (between Tale of the Lion King at Disneyland and Festival of the Lion King at Disney World), Disney has already effectively identified the heartbeat of this story and the key plot points to touch upon for a longer one-act musical. You can imagine how stunning this show would look in the Hyperion with iconic locations like Pride Rock, the Elephant Graveyard, and the jungle brought to life with bigger set design pieces. The Broadway version gives us an idea of how visually beautiful a show like this could be between the design and spectacular puppetry.

Needless to say, any version of The Lion King would be a hit as this story is so beloved, so it would naturally be a good fit at the Hyperion. However, we are still hoping that Tale of the Lion King will return to Fantasyland Theater!

Peter Pan

Another story that fans commented they would love to see at the Hyperion is Peter Pan! It's easy to see why this would be a great idea—this delightful Disney classic is brimming with magic, and the Broadway musical version of the show that opened in 1954 has captured the hearts of fans for years. Many Disneyland fans, myself included, are enamored with the live-action Peter Pan sequence in Fantasmic. If so much excitement surrounds just this one scene, you can imagine how visitors would react to the opportunity to see an entire show!

The musical could easily translate to a one-act format highlighting key moments in the Darlings' nursery, flying over London, meeting the residents of Never Land, and facing off with Captain Hook. The Broadway version of the show gives an indication of what we could expect with iconic songs like “Never Never Land,” “I'm Flying,” “I Won't Grow Up,” “Captain Hook's Waltz,” and more. There is also potential as always to introduce some fun original new songs as Disney often does in its live entertainment offerings.

The story of Peter Pan is filled with action, compelling characters, and beautiful visuals. I could only imagine how fun and stunning the set design would be in the Hyperion between the iconic locations like the night skies of London, the beautiful landscape of Never Land, The Jolly Roger, Skull Rock, Mermaid Lagoon, and more. The sky would truly be the limit!

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