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After a successful run in Chicago, BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical is set to make its premiere on Broadway early next year. Although exact dates and venue have yet to be announced, after several closures on Broadway late last year, there is no shortage of where the musical could appear.
Featured above is Jasmine Amy Rogers as the title role of Betty Boop in BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical.
BOOP! The musical announced in September last year their full casting which included some heavy hitters in the entertainment industry. Jasmine Amy Rogers took the leading role of Betty Boop herself and didn’t disappoint audiences with her stellar performances.
Faith Prince (Tony Winner from Guys and Dolls) played Valentina. Ainsley Anthony Melham, an Australian actor best known for his role in Aladdin, played Dwayne. Erich Bergen, who played Raymond Demarest, is best known for his previous role in the CBS television series Madam Secretary. Stephen DeRosa, perhaps best known by fans for his role in the series Empire, played Grampy in the black and white musical. Angelica Hale, the runner up winner in the 12th season of America’s Got Talent, played Trisha. Anastacia McCleskey, who was recently in Waitress: The Musical, played Carol Evans and Phillip Huber, the internationally recognised marionette artist, operated and played Pudgy the puppet dog.
Photo credit to Amy Boyle Photography.
Unfortunately, it has yet to be confirmed if this cast will transfer with the show to Broadway or if recasting will be announced closer to the premier in New York City but a few of the original cast members have hinted at ‘hoping to have a reunion in NYC this year’.
“For almost a century, Betty Boop has won hearts and inspired fans around the world with her trademark looks, voice, and style. Now, in BOOP!, Betty’s dream of an ordinary day off from the super-celebrity in her black-and-white world leads to an extraordinary adventure of colour, music, and love in New York City—one that reminds her and the world, ‘You are capable of amazing things.’ Boop-oop-a-doop!”
The creative team was star studded as well. Jerry Mitchell, Tony winner and best known for his work on Kinky Boots, was the Director and Choreographer for the Chicago run of BOOP! The musical. The characters were created by Max Fleischer, an American-Polish animator, who was best known for his classic characters such as Betty Boop, Popeye the Sailor, and the Fleischer Superman series. David Foster, the Grammy Award winner, had his music featured in the production along with lyrics by Tony Award nominated lyricist Susan Birkenhead.
A Betty Boop musical has been aiming for Broadway for at least 20 years. Andrew Lippa stated he was in collaboration with David Lindsay-Abaire in 2004. Four years later, an announcement came that an official Betty Boop Musical was aiming for a 2011-2012 Broadway season premier. Unfortunately neither of those happened, but it seems this latest Betty Boop musical may finally get to Broadway and beyond.
Janine has always been a part of music and performing. The first show that inspired her to go into theatre was the Velveteen Rabbit which she saw as a child, and Drew works to keep that magic alive in her work. When Drew was accepted into an internship program for audio engineering at a recording studio, she jumped at the opportunity. That was at the start of 2020, and so much has happened since then, both in her career and in the world. Since then, Drew has taken several opportunities to work at recording studios, concerts, festivals, and even large theatres while spending some time on tour. Drew's favorite by far though, has been the chance to work on Broadways and West End shows, as this was a dream come true. Drew is honoured to get to share these experiences from being inside the entertainment industry.
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