Our man in Rochester, Dick Halsey, attended the first performance of Boop! The Musical Saturday evening and he filed this report…
Boop! opened their U.S. tour last night in Rochester, NY. Before the start of the show, the director welcomed the audience and then said that this was only the 2nd time they have run the whole show.
It opened as a black and white Betty Boop cartoon. They played with B&W vs. color throughout the show especially in one musical number.
The first musical number, "A Little Versatility," got the audience hooked. The first act ends with the strong song, "Where I Wanna Be" and by that time you are sure that Aliya Grace, as Betty, now owns the show.
Photo by Dick Halsey
None of the cast from the Broadway run returns. The primary cast have been in some other shows but much of the cast are newcomers. It didn't show. I didn't see anything that could be considered even a small mistake. I especially liked Grampy.
There are references to some of the old Betty Boop cartoons that makes it fun if you have seen them. There was also a brief mention that Betty was originally a dog in her first cartoon. Maybe this show will lead to some new Betty Boop cartoons.
I only attend about one musical show per year. I'm glad that it was Boop! as it was well acted and a lot of fun.
Well, that's all great to hear. The director is a gent named Jerry Mitchell who has become something of a superstar in the Broadway community for directing and choreographing. An actress I met at a party of theater people a few years ago said to me, "My dream before I got to Broadway was to be in a Bob Fosse show but by the time I got there, he was gone so now I want to work for Jerry Mitchell." I don't recall her name so I can only hope she has or will.
Notice that since this is a bus-and-truck production going from city to city, some of the production values have been simplified. On Broadway, the bows at the end had the cast coming down a big stairway but apparently there wasn't room for it on the truck.
Twice in my life, my writing services have been sought by producers who thought they were going to make new Betty Boop cartoons and they wanted me to show-run and voice direct. And both times, deals fell through — as deals so often do in this business, especially when they tell you, "It's 99% set!" When I hear that, I know it ain't gonna happen. If it ever does, I'd love to be involved because she's a great character.
Thank you for your report, Dick. Boop! The Musical opens in Schenectady a week from tomorrow for six performances. If any Schenectadians — I guess that's the name for residents of Schenectady — is reading this, attends one and would like to submit a review, I'll post it here.
