**** Highly Recommended BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical is upbeat, exuberant and a throwback to the big old-fashioned Broadway extravaganzas of the ‘30s and ‘40s. BOOP! is sparkly and colorful – even in the black & white scenes. It’s also the perfect showcase for a brand new Broadway star, Jasmine Amy Rogers! No kidding, Rogers has it all – the look, the voice, the dancing feet, the personality – and the moxie to WOW the audience. This show is a must-see! 4 BIG Spotlights
As the curtain goes up, a black and white ‘Max Fleischer presents Betty Boop’ cartoon-ish title is projected on stage. The cartoon fades into a movie lot where Betty Boop (Rogers), in a silver top hat, with a tail coat over shorts, and the ensemble, in black and white coordinating outfits, are performing a huge production number, A Little Versatility. When they started tap dancing, it absolutely brought down the house!
The Director (Aubie Merrylees), tried to act like he was in charge, but it was obvious that whatever Betty wanted, Betty got. The Assistant Director (Ricky Schroeder) followed the Director wherever he went, repeating all of his orders through his megaphone.
By the way, Betty had had it with her super-celebrity status. When a reporter asked “Who is the real Betty Boop?” she lost it. She was tired of men chasing her around a desk (or whatever) in every film. She just wanted to have An Ordinary Day.
At home, Grampy (Stephen DeRosa), who loved to invent goofy Rube Goldberg-esque machines, and Pudgy, her dog (brought to life by puppeteer, Phillip Huber), were waiting for her. When Betty asked Grampy about somewhere else, he got all upset and sneezy. He said he’d experienced ‘other’ and it was dangerous. Nevertheless, when he fell asleep, she jumped into his machine and flashed into another time and place!
Betty, in her black and white outfit, landed in the middle of colorful, crowded ComicCon in New York. While she was gawking at all the people in strange outfits, some were gawking back at her. Dwain (Ainsley Anthony Melham) thought she looked familiar, but rushed off to find his younger sister.
Also at ComicCon, Betty met a young girl who was wearing clothes covered with ‘Betty Boop’ pictures. Trisha (Angelica Hale), who immediately recognized Betty, explained her world-wide popularity. Agreeing to keep Betty’s identity secret, Trisha took her home to find some more modern clothes.
Meanwhile, Grampy is so worried about Betty, he and Pudgy jump into the machine and flash into New York. Knowing he’ll need help in finding Betty, Grampy decides to look up Valentina (Faith Prince), someone he knew before. Even though they were in love, he was old and Valentina was not, so he left. A much older Valentina insists they get to know each other again.
Trisha explained that her mother, Carol Evans (Anastacia McCleskey), a professional campaign manager, is totally wrapped up in ‘poop king’ Raymond Demarest’s (Erich Bergen) campaign for mayor. Trisha wants to go to art school but she’s worried she won’t get in. Betty tells her “You are capable of amazing things,” which turns out to be the message contained in the show.
Trisha’s brother turns out to be Dwayne, the same guy Betty met at ComicCon. That evening, he takes Betty to a tiny jazz club in Harlem where he sometimes gets to sit in with the band. He sings a great song, I Speak Jazz. When Betty starts to sing and dance, he guesses her secret, and of course, he’s furious she didn’t tell him.
When Betty gets involved in the mayoral campaign, things get complicated, but they figure it out in the end. The show does need some tweaking, especially in the second act, but the choreography is spot-on, and of course, Jasmine Amy Rogers is absolutely phenomenal.
The BOOP! ensemble includes Lawrence Alexander, Colin Bradbury, Tristen Buettel, Joshua Michael Burrage, Gabi Campo, Daniel Castiglione, Rebecca Corrigan, Josh Drake, RJ Higton, Nina Lafarga, Morgan McGhee, Ryah Nixon, Christian Probst, Ricky Schroeder, Gabriella Sorrentino and Brooke Taylor.
Swings are Courtney Arango, Ian Gallagher Fitzgerald, Sydney Jones, Derek Jordan Taylor and Any Van Norstrand.
Betty Boop, created by Max Fleischer and voiced by Mae Questel, starred in more than 100 cartoons between 1930 and 1939. BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, with a book by Bob Martin, lyrics by David Foster and Music by Susan Birkenhead.
BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical runs through December 24th at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe, Chicago. Running time is 2 hours, 30 minutes, with an intermission. Performances are Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30 pm; Wednesdays at 2:00 & 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2:00 & 8:00 pm; and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets range from $30.00 - $103.00. FYI (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
