The musical, BOOP!, for which I have acted as a bit of a cheerleader since I saw it in Chicago in December, 2023, announced that it will end its Broadway run on July 13. If you are anywhere near New York City in the next two weeks, I implore you to get to The Broadhurst Theater so you can experience the best and most fun Broadway musical in the last several years.

This closing is very sad, but not unexpected news. Launching against an unprecedented slate of high-profile shows with gigantic marketing campaigns and big stars, and facing what seemed to be some kind of grudge against it by the Broadway elite, BOOP! faced an uphill battle.

A nonsensical review in the NY Times, that both praised the stars, music, lyrics and choreography and also said that the show shouldn’t exist, certainly stunted the show’s momentum (which was nearly universally praised, otherwise).

The outrageous snubs by the Theatre Wing (the folks who manage the marketing event known as The Tony Awards) fed conspiracy theories about how the established producers wanted to make an example of BOOP! as a warning to outsider producers who don’t play their games. Or maybe it was just snobbishness because the show is based on the classic cartoon character, Betty Boop, and since Broadway had their ass kicked by Disney so many times, they’ve grown to  hate animation.

I don’t know about all that nonsense. I do know that I think BOOP! is the most entertaining show to hit Broadway in years, and I say that as the producer of Mel Larch’s Curtain Call.  I heard the cast recordings of all the nominated shows and they ranged from pretty decent to downright awful. That BOOP! was not nominated for Best Musical will forever taint the credibility of the Tony Awards in my eyes.

They did nominate Jasmine Amy Rogers for best actress in a musical, because even they could not deny how her Broadway debut is the beginning of what will be a legendary career, but even then they gave the award to someone whose performance on the awards show left me completely unimpressed. They also gave token nominations to the brilliant choreography and amazing costume design, but the show did not win either of those catagories, either.

And let’s face it, the only hope BOOP! had for an extended run would have been for Tony Awards viewers to be exposed to it. Sadly they wouldn’t even let the cast perform during the ceremony. More fuel for the conspiracy theories, I guess.

There are rumors that the show may live on as a touring entity. I know it would certainly thrive in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and I would imagine people would flock to see it again in Chicago. I don’t know if the show would be able to keep Jasmine Amy Rogers on board for a tour.  Her rocketship to stardom is already taking off, and it might be time for her to branch out into other endeavors. I know she’s recording a Pop album for later in the year, and any Broadway show would be extremely lucky to land her as their lead.

Above you will find a playlist of some videos that will give you a taste of BOOP! the Musical.