Sunshine in a bottle, Boop! is a delectable confection that happily entertains the delighted audience without expecting much of anything in return.

The featherlight scenario for the new stage musical sees Betty Boop tire of fame and take a day off, travelling in her Grampy’s time machine to present day New York. Not in the 1920s anymore, Betty enters a technicolor world in human form, changing the lives of a family, Mary Poppins-style, and learning a lesson or two of her own as she finds love along the way. 

Book writer Bob Martin* keeps the present day references zipping along, scoring plenty of genuine laughs. Dramatic tension is low to non-existent but there are some timely swipes at notorious identities and the lessons learned unfold with nary a trace of schmaltz. 

A creation of Max Fleischer of Fleischer Studios, Betty Boop makes for an ideal musical heroine, being a natural songstress and dainty dancer. While Martin’s book and Mitchell’s direction steer the show towards traditional musical theatre for a wide audience, the broadly comical hi jinx of Grampy, his true love Valentina, and the (admittedly precious) comical dog Pudgy give the musical something of an identity crisis as to whether it is ultimately intended for adults or children

Composing his first musical, David Foster pens a score full of catchy tunes, with snappy lyrics from Susan Birkenhead neatly matching the wit of the book. Music director Rick Fox conducts 14 musicians in the generously sized orchestra that brings the new music to rich, toe-tapping life.

While there are recent newcomers to the dual crown of director / choreographer, Jerry Mitchell is a proven force; his name on the credits is basically a guarantee that a musical comedy will zing along with dazzling flair. Mitchell’s work here is reliably stellar, elevating the fairly simple source material into a cavalcade of wonderful song and dance. 

Helming the creation of the new musical, Mitchell’s style has clearly inspired scenic designer David Rockwell, projection designer Finn Ross, and costume designer Gregg Barnes to craft dazzling designs that perfectly complement the terrific dance numbers. Opening grey scale tap number “A Little Versatility” makes for a splashy start, with the dancers going on to embody jazz music itself in “I Speak Jazz” for another early highlight. 

Cohesive design reaches its zenith with act two opener “Where is Betty?”, which sees the company sport costumes that are half colour, half black-and-white, allowing the entire stage, including backdrops, to flip instantly back and forth from Betty’s original world to the present day. 

Barely off stage for a few minutes, breakout star Jasmine Amy Rogers is and utterly engaging delight as Betty Boop. Rogers manages to retain the cutesie accent without it grating, readily winning abundant audience affection with her warm hearted presence along with her sharply honed song and dance skills. 

Australia’s own Ainsley Melham helps the musical keep one foot in reality with his charming, down-to-earth leading man Dwayne. Melham’s vocal performance is particularly strong, characterised by a natural earthy tone that is a pleasure to hear.

Stephen deRosa hams it up as Grampy, winningly partnered by the fantabulous Faith Prince as Valentina. 

Ingenue Anjelica Hale shows impressive poise and polish as burgeoning teen Trisha, clearly indicating a long career on the stage to come. 

Puppeteer Phillip Huber steals many a scene presenting the extraordinary of actions and expressions of dear little Pudgy the dog. 

Easy to enjoy, Boop! is Broadway being Broadway, and is sure to be enjoyed by scores of theatregoers as it finds its market. 

Boop! was reviewed 2pm Wednesday 7 May 2025 at Broadhurst Theatre, New York. For tickets, click here.

*Bob Martin is very special to this website as he created and played the character in The Drowsy Chaperone from which this site takes its name. 

Photos: Matthew Murphy, Evan Zimmerman