“We were recently invited to preview BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical, and straight out of the gate – it’s a fun, joyous, utterly delightful new musical, a “feel good” show that makes you feel good for the right reasons!
The show opens on Betty Boop – the iconic star of the Max Fleischer animated shorts of the 1930s – introducing herself and pulling out all the stops in a virtuosic opening number (“A Little Versatility”). Afterwards, Betty expresses a desire to find herself as she feels her “real” identity has been lost to her stardom and concocts a scheme to travel from her Cartoon World to the Real World to experience something new. After a fun little bit of stage magic (I won’t give it away) she finds herself in present day New York City, and what follows is a fish-out-of-water story (think 2007’s Enchanted or 2023’s Barbie). You follow Betty Boop as she makes new friends, falls in love, runs from a few lecherous creeps in her trademark style, and learns to become a real (cartoon?) person. It’s a fairly simple plot, but for the purposes of this production it does exactly what it needs to do.
Director/Choreographer Jerry Mitchell is thoroughly in his element and clearly having the time of his life with this musical. The dance numbers have the most thrilling choreography I’ve seen on Broadway this season, and the entire production is gorgeous to look at. The score (by David Foster and Susan Birkenhead) is charming and sophisticated, smartly blending the sounds of 1930s jazz (you can almost hear Cab Calloway singing some of these numbers on an original Betty Boop short) with contemporary pop music. Jasmine Amy Rogers, making her Broadway debut in the role of Betty Boop, is spectacular in every sense of the word – it’s the kind of show that can only work with an incredible lead, and the producers & creative team did the right thing by using this role to MAKE a star rather than to cast a pre-existing one. But perhaps the most impressive accomplishment of BOOP! is, as a new musical in 2025, it is completely devoid of any shred of pretension or cynicism. Where so many other contemporary shows are buried beneath about a dozen layers of irony and snark, BOOP! wears its heart on its sleeve and proclaims that the most radical thing you can do right now is to love sincerely and live joyously, and wear lots of fun costumes while doing so.
For groups, this show is all ages appropriate, and one of those rare shows that I can imagine both kids and adults really enjoying. From the visual design to the choreography and the orchestra – it really feels like a genuine old-fashioned Big Broadway Musical!” – James Ballard, BroadwayGPS