Australian Ainsley Melham to return to Broadway to star in BOOP!
Principal casting for the new Broadway musical BOOP! The Musical has been announced and tickets are on sale now. Following a critically acclaimed engagement in Chicago last year, previews of BOOP! The Musical will begin on March 11, 2025. The new family musical will open officially at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street) on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
Tickets to BOOP! The Musical are now available at Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200. Group sales available through Group Sales Box Office or by calling 1-800-Broadway.
The principal cast of BOOP!, who received critical acclaim in the Chicago pre-Broadway run last year, is headed by Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty Boop and Tony Award®-winner Faith Prince as Valentina, Ainsley Melham as Dwayne, Erich Bergen as Raymond, Stephen DeRosa as Grampy, Anastacia McCleskey as Carol, Angelica Hale as Trisha, Phillip Huber (Pudgy the Dog), and Aubie Merrylees as Oscar.
Ainsley Melham (Dwayne) starred as Aladdin in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway and the Australian National Tour (Helpmann Nomination). Other credits in his home country—Australia—include the national tours of Wicked (Fiyero), Pippin (Pippin), and Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Prince Topher). Also Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Molina), Merrily We Roll Along (Charley Kringas), The Normal Heart (Felix), Xanadu (Sonny), Watershed: The Death of Dr. Duncan (Lost Boy), and Hi-5 (host). He is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Tony Award®-winning director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots) brings the Queen of the Screen to the theater in BOOP! The Musical, with celebrated multiple Grammy® Award-winning composer David Foster (“You’re The Inspiration,” “I Will Always Love You”), Tony Award®-nominated lyricist Susan Birkenhead (Working, Jelly’s Last Jam) and Tony Award®-winning book writer Bob Martin(The Drowsy Chaperone).
Director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell said, “I am over the moon that our Chicago principal cast will be joining us on the journey to Broadway. Everyone embodies the infectious positive spirit of Betty Boop, and I can’t wait to get back in the rehearsal room to bring BOOP! to Broadway.”
For almost a century, Betty Boop, created by animation pioneer Max Fleischer, has won hearts and inspired fans around the world with her trademark looks, voice, and style. Now, in BOOP! The Musical, Betty’s dream of an ordinary day off from the super-celebrity in her black-and-white world leads to an extraordinary adventure of color, music, and finding love in New York City — one that reminds her and the world, “You are capable of amazing things.”
Visit https://boopthemusical.com/ to learn more.
Ainsley Melham, Image credit BOOP! The Musical