Jasmine Amy Rogers has an infectious, irresistible giggle. It’s perfect for the new role she’s stepping into — Betty Boop, the sexy, baby-faced flapper of cartoon fame who’s now getting the musical theater treatment in “Boop! The Musical,” a new stage production now in previews at Chicago’s CIBC Theatre, with sights set on Broadway.
Rogers says it’s a challenge portraying the iconic 1930s cartoon character, familiar to many but new to some, and bringing her into today’s world.
“Luckily, the role feels very natural for me,” she says, adding, with a laugh, “I do think there’s a bit of Betty in me. My dad even said I was perfect for the role.”
Two-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell (“La Cage aux Folles,” “Kinky Boots”) says he “was looking for moxie, for effervescence and, of course, acting, singing, dancing” when casting the role.
“Jasmine has all that, plus she has the ability to be vulnerable,” he says. “When she auditioned, she just blew everybody away.”
A Betty Boop musical, inspired by the character created by Max Fleischer in 1930, has been in the works since 2004, with various producing and writing teams attached. Just prior to the pandemic, Mitchell joined the creative team, which also includes Grammy Award-winning songwriter and composer David Foster (music), Susan Birkenhead (lyrics) and Bob Martin (book).
Mitchell says of Betty Boop: “She was a no-nonsense, strong, sexy female character way before her time. She ran for president. She was a flying ace. She was a nurse. And so much more. She did it all.”
In the cartoons, sexy Betty often was chased around the table by lecherous men, but she always won the race.
“Betty was always about what is right and what is wrong,” says Rogers, 24. “She stood up for what she believed in, and I don’t think that was always so easy for women to do at the time, to speak up for themselves in the way Betty did. And, in a sad way, we’re still there today in aspects of what we’re still fighting for.”
Finding a way into Betty’s story was Mitchell’s biggest challenge. After some research into the character, an idea started to form for him that this would be a love story.
“It was about the one thing that Betty doesn’t have in her life, which is love,” Mitchell says. “It’s something she’s never experienced.”
The musical is set first in the cartoon world, where Betty is a superstar. She has it all. But something is missing that she can’t define. Grampy (an inventor and Betty’s friend in the classic cartoon) creates a machine that takes Betty from her black-and-white world into the colorful modern world, where her love story unfolds. But will she stay? Or will she leave?
This is the third role Rogers has originated. She played Melody Green in Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of “The Wanderer” and Francis Bassey in “Becoming Nancy,” directed by Mitchell at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.
“I actually prefer to start a role from scratch,” she says. “I love that feeling of getting to put my mark on it.”
Foster, who has collaborated on and produced songs for a long list of iconic performers (from the band Chicago to Rod Stewart, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand) makes his Broadway debut with “Boop.” He admits there’s been a bit of a learning curve; he’s thrilled so see the show come alive.
“I didn’t even know that songs had to move the story forward,” he says with a laugh. “I tried to expand my horizons with this music, and I had a lot of help from theater professionals far more experienced than me.”
Foster and Birkenhead’s songs are “beautiful and sweet,” Rogers says. “The songs really encapsulate Betty’s world but also this world that we live in today.”
Betty Boop is out to save the world with love.
“The reason I wanted to tell this story was because we’re down a quart on love in this country,” Mitchell says. “Cynicism is just such an easy card to play. And, if people played the love card more, I think they would feel better, their lives would be full. It’s a very simple idea, but sometimes people need to be reminded that love is the way to go.”
