When I go to a show directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell I expect large, splashy dance numbers and overall well-executed staging and that’s just what I got with Boop! The Musical at the Broadhurst Theatre. What I didn’t expect was to be wowed by the 25-year-old making her Broadway debut in the starring role. Jasmine Amy Rogers is phenomenal.
Nothing is between Rogers and her role. She is Betty Boop throughout every minute of the two-and-a-half hour show, which flew by. With the cartoon character’s high-pitched voice, which Rogers has said is pretty much her natural voice, and a singing voice that is impeccable, she commands the show. Even in the exciting full-ensemble dance numbers my eyes were riveted on her. And she does the whole show in Betty’s beloved high heels. Ouch. (I hope her contract calls for lots of massage therapy and foot care.)
The show, with Bob Martin’s book, David Foster’s music and Susan Birkenhead’s lyrics, was in development for more than two decades. It had a successful pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago in 2023 but bringing it to Broadway with a reported $26 million capitalization is big time pressure for all, especially the novice on whom the success of the whole enterprise hinges.
Twenty or 25 years ago this role would have been Kristin Chenoweth’s. With her pint-sized sass and resonant voice she also would have personified Betty Boop. But Rogers, also pint-sized, is not an imitation Chenoweth. She’s an extraordinarily talented performer all on her own. Watching her I was reminded of the night I saw Sutton Foster make her Broadway debut starring in Thoroughly Modern Millie. The role had been written for Chenoweth by Jeanine Tesori and had the show progressed more quickly to the Great White Way she would have been a fabulous Millie. But by the time the show made it Chenoweth wasn’t available. At first I was so disappointed not to have her that I missed the charm and talent of the very tall Foster in the place of the 4’ 11” Chenoweth. But as soon as I dismissed my disappointment I realize I was witnessing a new star being born.
Building a Broadway musical around cartoon characters has been done before, most notably with You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. (For which, incidentally, Chenoweth won her Tony for best featured actress in the 1999 revival.) The creators of Boop! found a perfect way to bring this cartoon to life. They transported Betty from her 1930s world into present day New York. A time machine zaps her from her charming cartoon apartment in shades of black and white (sets by David Rockwell) into a vibrant full color 2025 Comic Con convention in the Javits Center. Philip S. Rosenberg’s lighting is spectacular as are Gregg Barnes’ costumes, now vividly colorful. Betty surveys this new world in amazement. So did I. (Barnes gives the costumes an especially clever note in the second act when Betty is torn between her two worlds. The ensemble is in full-color in the front of their apparel but when they turn around the backs are in black and white, one of the many engaging details in this show.)
Upon arrival in New York Betty meets Dwayne (Ainsley Melham), a jazz musician who assumes she’s an actor in an especially authentic costume. No surprise, he becomes her love interest. That role can use some development.
The role that is beautifully developed and played is that of Trisha (Angelica Hale), a teenager fan at the convention who idolizes the cartoon Betty for her strength and independence; she wears images of that Betty all over her clothes. She and Betty become fast friends. This is also Hale’s Broadway debut, and she is another great discovery. Only 17, with no theatre credits in her bio, her high comfort level must come from her unnamed performances worldwide and from being the youngest runner-up on “America’s Got Talent.”
The songs are upbeat and fun and Mitchell uses them well, starting with the first, “A Little Versatility,” that has Betty and a full-stage ensemble tapping their hearts out. I loved it and all that followed. And I was so happy to have good original songs in a new musical instead of the retreads used in the jukebox musicals that now pass for new Broadway shows.
Another shout out needs to go to Phillip Huber, a world renown marionette artist who, wearing all black, appears onstage to masterfully manipulate Betty’s little white dog, Pudgy.
In this show full of shoutouts I can’t forget Sabana Majeed’s hair and wig design that gives Betty her signature big black spit curls and, with a mini-pack in each side of the wig, her round cartoon face..
Unfortunately it’s easy to forget Faith Prince, a Tony winner in 1993 for her role in the revival of Guys and Dolls, who is back on Broadway after almost a decade away. She plays the newly created role of Valentina, a modern-day astrophysicist. I read that she had a hand in developing the musical and shaping her character. I wish she had given herself more opportunity to showcase her talents.
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