She just wants to be loved by you!
Fans of BOOP! The Musical were left heartbroken June 2 when the performance lineup for the 2025 Tony Awards telecast was revealed, minus a certain boop-oop-a-doop-sical star.
BOOP! star Jasmine Amy Rogers is currently nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Betty Boop, but according to new intel from the show's producers, they were not allowed to purchase a slot. The decision to reject BOOP!, which received 3 Tony nominations (in addition to Rogers, director Jerry Mitchell received a nomination for his choreography, and Greg Barnes for his costume design), has shocked fans. So much so that there is now a petition for the Tonys to reconsider their decision.
Though Tony Awards performance slots can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars—BOOP! was prepared to pay it. And it had its performance plan ready to go. Per reports, the show intended to perform its Act 2 opening dance number “Where’s Betty?,” to showcase Mitchell’s choreography and Barnes’ costumes before segueing into the 11 o’clock solo for Rogers, “Something to Shout About.”
In response to their shut-out from the performance lineup, Mitchell took to social media, stating that "this would have made a spectacular Tony number" before sharing a fan-led petition pleading with the Tony organizers to reconsider their decision to bar BOOP! from performing. He also posted a clip from "Where's Betty?", which can be seen below.
The fan-created petition has now gathered over 2,000 signatures, with many members of the BOOP! cast and crew taking to their socials to urge the Tonys to hear their plea. Even Rogers has weighed in, stating that: "This petition has warmed my heart, thank you all so so much. I do just want to point out that BOOP! does in fact have the budget. That was not the deciding factor. They on the internet calling us broke! Jerry ain’t having that."
Performances on the Tonys telecast are notably more complex than many would expect; it isn't just a matter of signing up before the list is filled. Due to the time constraints, there are also only so many slots over the course of the night.
Many of those slots are reserved from the start, with nominees for Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical offered first right of refusal for a performance slot. Remaining slots, however, are decided at the discretion of the Tony Awards. In previous years, performance slots have been snagged by musicals coming to Broadway the next season (such as Jennifer Hudson performed a sneak preview of Finding Neverland), plays that feature music (Stereophonic), and even musicals that were snubbed by the nominating body entirely (A Beautiful Noise). And this year, there's even a Hamilton performance to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary.
Most often, however, those extra slots are picked up by shows that didn't net a Best Musical nomination, but still showed up on the board in some other way. For example, this year, Just In Time is scheduled to perform, likely due to the nominations for stars Jonathan Groff and Gracie Lawrence, in spite of the show not quite making the Best Musical list. So, the decision to not allow BOOP! a chance to perform is a curious one.
Playbill has reached out to the Tony Awards for their response to their petition and will update this story accordingly.
