The Color of Love: Boop!

You ever watch something that makes you smile. It doesn’t have to be perfect, nothing really is. But you’re smiling the entire time.

Boop! The Musical tells the story of Betty Boop who leaves the black and white world of toon town for the colorful world of New York City. While there she makes friends and finds romance.

I remember reading when Boop was in development years ago. I would say to myself “How can Betty Boop be a musical?” Well after over 10 years of development and an out of town tryout in Chicago, Betty has arrived on Broadway.

So what’s gets my boop boop be doop of approval?

Jasmine Amy Rodgers as Betty. She is a star! Charming, sweet and bubbly the entire show. There is not one bad bone in her body. It also doesn’t come off phony either. She does every line with a smile and compassion. You just want to hug her whenever she’s onstage.

The costumes. Designed by Gregg Barnes they are a knockout. Everything is colorful, sparkly. Even the street clothes have an added flair.

The puppet. Betty’s dog, pudgy is done by a marionette. And steals every scene he’s in. So adorable.

It’s a great one for families. This is a great one for the kiddos as their first show. The musical heavily promotes this as well with special programs on their website. And free stickers at the merch stand. While some of the humor and content might fly over their heads; it’s a great way to introduce younger ones to theatre.

The music. The music by David Foster is beautiful. The mix of Broadway, pop and jazz is a fun combination for a musical. It’s feels old and new at the same time. A classic Broadway feel in a fresh new way.

The self awareness. I love when shows do this. It just shows they’re having fun up there. Almost like winking at the audience. A nice touch. Especially when some parts got a little adult for the kiddies in the crowd.

Ehh sadly not everything is so colorful.

There’s a lot of plot. Some hard to follow. Some could have used a little more focus. Some stuff could have been deleted all together. I feel the general plot had enough meat to flesh out into a show. Instead of just adding things to make it modern.

The story is nothing new. A lot of people have mentioned how the show is similar to the Barbie movie (there’s even a joke about it). But for me it’s more like a light hearted romantic comedy. You know what’s going to happen midway through the first act. But because there is so much to see, you wanna see it pan out.

The show finished rather quickly for me. We kind of tied everything up with a bow, and then curtain call. In my opinion we could have added a few more minutes to finish the stories out. It get it, the demographic is families. But we can give me a little more in act 2.

So what’s my opinion of Boop!? It’s adorable. I was smiling and tapping my toes the whole time. Yes it has its flaws but the performances, music and costumes really make up for it. It’s a great one to take the kids for their first show. It’s a fun night out.

Boop! Is playing on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre