By Paulanne Simmons
April 15, 2025. From the moment the dancers, dressed in sparkling tuxes, prance onto the stage at the Broadhurst Theatre and perform a number that includes an incredible tap and a rotating kick line, we know Boop! The Musical, with director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell at the helm, is going to be one hell of a good time.
The musical, with a book by Bob Martin, music by David Foster and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, captures all the energy of the animated cartoon character, Betty Boop, designed by Grim Natwick for the films produced by Max Fleischer between 1930 and 1939. Betty Boop was a Jazz Age flapper and a symbol of the Depression era. She had a big round face with large eyes, a tiny red mouth and a button nose framed by tight black curls. She wore short skirts with a garter on her thigh. Unlike other female cartoon characters, Betty Boop was sexy, and as a result, was often the prey of predatory men.
The fabulous Jasmine Amy Rogers, in her Broadway debut as Betty, is all this, and much more. We first see Betty in her black-and-white comic world. But she is tired of her celebrity, and, with the help of the time-travel machine created by Grampy (Stephen DeRosa), makes it to the very colorful New York City.
At first, Betty is timid and unsure, but at a Javitz Center Comic Con she encounters the aspiring musician Dwayne (Ainsley Melham) and his adorable, orphaned cousin, Trisha (the formidable Angelica Hale), a budding artist. Soon Betty meets Trisha’s guardian, Carol (Anastacia McCleskey), who is singlehandedly running the campaign of the secretly corrupt mayoral candidate, Raymond Demarest (Erich Bergen, worth all the money his character is trying to steal). It isn’t until Dwayne, who is quickly falling in love with Betty, asks her to sing at his favorite jazz club, and Demarest asks Betty to use her celebrity to boost his campaign that Betty comes into her own, learns to become who she really wants to be and teaches that lesson to her new friends.
In the meantime, Grampy, desperate to get Betty to come home, follows her to New York City, bringing with him Pudgy, Betty’s pug, a marionette whose legs, tail and lovingly licking tongue are operated by the puppeteer Phillip Huber. But while Grampy is trying to find Betty, he meets Valentina (the always winning Faith Prince), an astrophysicist he had fallen in love with 40 years ago on his last trip to the real world. Their song-and-dance number, “Whatever It Takes,” is one of the musical’s most delightful.
Boop is an expansive, old-fashioned musical. The score is big and brassy. The singers belt out the upbeat songs and linger lovingly on the ballads. Costume designer Gregg Barnes has created extravagant costumes in black-and-white and full color. “Where Is Betty,” which opens Act 2, features costumes that are black-and-white on one side and full color on the other, adding visual glee to the dancing. And David Rockwell’s sets make the black-and-white world, and the real world seem equally fantastical in their own way.
Some people may take great pleasure looking down their nose at the sheer silliness of Boop! That’s their right. But most people will have a better time just joining in the merriment.
BOOP! The Musical ****
Broadhurst Theater, 235 W. 44th St., NYC.
Running time: two hours and 20 mins. including intermission. www.boopthemusical.com
Open run.
Photography: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
