Jasmine Amy Rogers Is Redefining Betty Boop On Broadway

When Jasmine Amy Rogers learned of her Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in Boop! The Musical, she was stunned. Rogers has been working toward this moment for years. A finalist at the Jimmy Awards, she studied musical theater at the Manhattan School of Music and built up a résumé that includes Mean Girls (as Gretchen Wieners), Jelly’s Last Jam, The Wanderer, and Becoming Nancy.

But Boop! is different. This is her role. And she’s delivering.

“It’s so special,” she tells MadameNoire in an interview. “It’s a dream come true. I wasn’t expecting anything. I try not to think about those things. Of course, you always dream of it, but…I kind of still am in shock. I might be for the rest of my life.”

She laughs, still soaking in the moment. “I’m on cloud nine.”

At just 24, Rogers has stepped into the heels of one of animation’s most recognizable icons. In Boop!, Betty Boop trades in her black-and-white fame for a day of color and discovery in New York City. The musical is a bold reimagining with Rogers making Betty her own.

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A Black Betty on Broadway

Taking on a character with nearly a century of icon status isn’t for the faint of heart. Rogers felt it.

“There were moments where it felt really nerve-wracking,” she says. “I was putting pressure on myself as to what people might expect or want. But what I’ve learned is that I needed to trust in the work that I had put in—and that I was the right person to show her to the world in this way for the first time.”

Turns out, she was. Her performance has racked up critical acclaim and landed her in the running for every major theater award this season.

Her portrayal is more than just great vocals and stage presence. It’s cultural reclamation. Betty Boop’s roots in jazz and scat come directly from Black American music. While Betty’s origin story has been debated, Rogers is clear about where the soul of the show comes from.

“When it comes to jazz and scat style, those are the two things that Betty is known for. And those things? Black people. That’s where it comes from,” she says. “Our director, Jerry Mitchell, wanted a Black woman to sing this music and to play this role out.”

It’s also about honoring the people who’ve loved Betty Boop for decades, many of whom show up to the theater with long-held memories.

“I’ve met so many people who have loved Betty for so long, for some of them their whole lives. And to know that I am bringing her to life in a way that they love feels really, really special. I’m just so happy I get to do it.”

The Joy and the Pushback

Being the first Black woman to headline as Betty Boop on Broadway hasn’t come without a few raised eyebrows.

“There have been a few people who are not happy… that I’m a Black woman playing this part,” she says. “But it’s been very easy to drown them out because most people don’t care and/or are very, very excited about it.”

She’s not alone in that experience. From Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie to Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid, Black girls and women stepping into iconic roles often face backlash just for existing in those spaces. As history has shown, that same criticism tends to get quiet once the lights go up and the talent speaks for itself.

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Rogers has seen the other side of that coin, especially when Black women show up in the audience.

“They are obsessed with it, and they come and they’re excited,” she says. “Young girls, older women. That means everything to me. To get to meet them when I can, and just have them be so joyous? There’s nothing in the world like that. Because we deserve that. We need that.”

“[Betty’s] teaching me to look at the world in a different way,” Rogers adds. “I have a very big love for people. I try to give myself to people—with open arms—in a way that is helpful to them when they need me.”

Her presence on stage is representation. It’s joy. It’s Black girl magic in jazz shoes.

“My own life has been filled with so much joy lately,” she says. “I’ve just been like the happiest person on the planet.”

Who She Carries With Her

Ask Rogers who inspired her, and she doesn’t hesitate.

“Audra McDonald is a huge inspiration to me and has been since I was in high school,” she says. “I have Eartha Kitt on my wall. I have Dorothy Dandridge on my wall.”

She pauses. “And the women in my family—they’re not in theater, but I come from a line of very strong, very powerful women.”

That legacy shows up in her values. She wants the generation coming behind her to know that their possibilities are endless.

“There are no limitations in the types of roles that we can play,” she says. “We do not have to play things that only highlight our suffering. Sometimes it is important to tell those stories, but we can also lead projects that are full of joy and light and love.”

She means it. She’s doing it.

Boop! and Beyond

In addition to her Tony nomination, she’s a finalist for the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and Chita Rivera Awards. She’s already taken home the Theatre World Award.

“I try to give myself to people with open arms,” she says. “I have a very big love for people, and so I definitely see that in both of us—me and Betty.”

For every little Black girl who sees her and dares to dream a little bolder, Rogers is sharing the message that their names belong in lights too.

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