Jasmine Amy Rogers Brings Iconic Betty Boop to Life in Boop! The Musical on Broadway

There are many moments in the new Broadway musical Boop! The Musical has me absolutely convinced that the cartoon character Betty Boop is 100% real.

Now playing to the delight of all lucky audiences is Boop! The Musical at the Broadhurst Theatre, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.

Listen, we need to find a brand-new set of words to describe excellence—Boop-cellence, maybe? Weigh in.

Betty Boop (Jasmine Amy Rogers), the cartoon, is known as a flapper in the early talkie version, and the anchor in her world—the only reason her vibrant, bubbly black-and-white self even exists.

Rogers, as Betty, is pitch-perfect. She’s a fabulous singer, an incredible dancer, sporting a smile, and mastering all of Boop's mannerisms from top to bottom. At no time did Rogers fail to embody the iconic Boop.

If you know Betty’s world, then you’ll be thrilled that her pug (played as a marionette brought to life by puppeteer Phillip Huber) is right by her side.

The snappy music, by David Foster, wraps itself in a jazzy brass feeling. Lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and to my utter surprise, are sparkling good—like, lean in and listen well.

A few critics have raised questions about the loony storyline. People, what do you expect? Betty Boop is a comic book character; all logic left the building the minute two words were uttered: Betty. Boop. In a web search, it’s easy to find that classic Betty was first born as a half-dog in 1930.

Keep up. We are living in Betty’s world. In a quasi-press conference, one of the fawning reporters asked who she was, and to her surprise, beyond being a singer, dancer, actress, and star beloved by millions, she doesn’t know who she really is.

Existential crisis by a cartoon character—bulls-eye.

In a moment of weakness, Grampy (Stephen DeRosa) shows Betty his invention, a time-travel machine, telling her never to get inside the chair and use it. Which, of course, Betty does, and finds herself in current-day New York City, smack in the middle of a Comic-Con convention at the Javits Center. Her look fits in seamlessly (costumes by Gregg Barnes, lighting by Philip S. Rosenberg).

Betty is Betty, so she makes friends quickly: Trisha (Angelica Hale), a young Boop fanatic she meets at the convention; Dwayne (Ainsley Melham), a jazz musician who is part of Trisha’s world; and Carol (Anastacia McCleskey), a campaign manager who is Dwayne’s mother and Trisha’s guardian.

Wait, there are more characters to meet, including Valentina (Faith Prince), an astrophysicist who, 40 years earlier, hooked up with Grampy when he visited the real world.

Real love never dies, and Grampy and Valentina reunite when he returns to the real world to drag Betty back to her black-and-white world, which is fading away without her!

But Betty may have found love, and if she goes back, she may lose her shot. And she’s got herself entwined in a shady mayoral election but turns it around to make it a female-focused power move in the end.

Betty Boop: The Musical is a gift that keeps on giving. Perfect for all family ages, I was seated one seat away from a three-year-old sitting on her mother’s lap, enjoying every second.

You will too.

The design and creative team for BOOP! The Musical includes Tony Award®-winner David Rockwell, scenic design; Three-time Tony Award®-winner Gregg Barnes, costume design; Philip S. Rosenberg, lighting design; Tony Award®-winner Gareth Owen, sound design; Tony Award®-winner Finn Ross, projection design; Emmy Award®-winner Sabana Majeed, hair and wig design; Michael Clifton, makeup design; OBIE Award®-winner Skylar Fox, illusions design; The Huber Marionettes, marionette design; Tony Award®-winner Daryl Waters, music supervision and arrangements; Three-time Tony Award®-winner Doug Besterman, Orchestrations; Rick Fox, music director; and Tony Award®-nominee Zane Mark, dance music arrangements. Casting is by The TRC Company, Kevin Metzger-Timson, CSA and Tara Rubin, CSA. DB Bonds is Associate Director, Rachelle Rak and Jon Rua are Associate Choreographers, and General Management is by Foresight Theatrical.

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