TDF Stages

Faith Prince and Stephen DeRosa talk about playing old flames in Broadway's new musical comedy

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For Faith Prince fans, it's exhilarating to see the Tony winner bumping, grinding and punch-lining on Broadway again after almost a decade away. And it's particularly sweet that "one of the great old Broadway broads," as her BOOP! costar Stephen DeRosa affectionately calls her, is getting to play sexy and smart in this vibrant new musical comedy inspired by the classic Betty Boop cartoons.

Prince portrays Valentina, an astrophysicist involved in an interdimensional romance with Grampy (DeRosa), Betty Boop's eccentric inventor grandfather, who has devised a kooky contraption that allows characters to travel between the black-and-white animated realm and the colorful real world. When Betty (Jasmine Amy Rogers) absconds to modern-day NYC to go on a journey of self-discovery, Grampy follows and ends up reconnecting with his old flame Valentina. There's also an adorable orphan (Angelica Hale), a hunky jazz trumpeter (Ainsley Melham), a corrupt mayoral candidate (Erich Bergen) and a little puppet dog, too.

If that sounds as complicated as the Rube Goldberg machines Grampy concocts, BOOP!, directed and choreographed by Tony winner Jerry Mitchell, has one simple goal: to spark joy. And it does so with spectacular dance numbers at Comic Con and on the red steps in Times Square, Gregg Barnes' eye-popping costumes, spirited songs by David Foster and Susan Birkenhead and wonderfully broad performances, particularly from Prince and DeRosa, who put the sexy in sexagenarian.

TDF Stages chatted with Prince and DeRosa about their palpable chemistry, their surprising science backgrounds and why Jerry Mitchell once called her one of "the beefs."

Raven Snook: As a middle-aged lady myself, I loved seeing a couple of a certain age that was more than funny and cute. You're also hot and sexy. I don't think Valentina and Grampy go home and just heat up TV dinners!

Stephen DeRosa: We don't! According to Bob Martin [who wrote the BOOP! book], about six or seven years ago, they were trying to figure out a way to work in the song "A Cure for Love." Then Jerry said, "What if Valentina is somebody that Grampy knew 40 years ago, and they come back together after so long and rekindle this romance? He had a friend who had reconnected with someone on Facebook, just sent a message after so many years, and they wound up getting married. Jerry loved that story. Faith is so smart and funny as Valentina, but she also brings the sexiness. Jerry always loves the burlesque stuff, and he makes Faith lean even more into it as Valentina.

Snook: I know! At times it seems like she's about to go into "Gotta Get a Gimmick" from Gypsy.

DeRosa: Exactly! In the show we make it clear: Grampy has been Grampy forever, because that's how it works in his world. But he's willing to give up his immortality for love. I think that's such a beautiful idea. It lends depth to our relationship.

Snook: Let's go back to the start: How did you each get involved with BOOP!?

Faith Prince: Stephen can start from the beginning and then I'll jump in, because I was the last piece I think.

DeRosa: I just got lucky that Jerry asked me to start working on Grampy in workshops as they were trying out different Bettys and Valentinas. In 2022, we did a reading, and that's when Faith came in. Instantly, I was like—can I curse? She's such a fucking great actor. I mean, she's a fantastic singer, she's a ham, she's sexy, she's all those things, but she's also a smart actor. Faith just got Valentina, and we had a little spark. After that reading, I was like, I think we have our Valentina now, right?

Prince: They had given me the script the night before! I had no time to process. We read the lyrics; we didn't even sing. I just had to be Valentina immediately. She has this larger-than-life thing about her. And I think that's part of the attraction between her and Grampy. It's been fun with Stephen. We have a blast on stage. Every performance is something different, which I love, because I've been told I'm enigmatic by quite a few people.

Snook: You were both in BOOP!'s 2023 premiere in Chicago. How have your characters evolved since then?

Prince: Between the productions, I had some things roaming around in my head. I wrote Jerry with my ideas, and he gave them to Bob [Martin, BOOP!'s Tony-winning book writer], so it's been a process. We kind of rewrote the relationship, because originally it started in a place of anger [with Valentina upset that Grampy left her 40 years prior]. When we did it in Chicago, I didn't think it served us. It had to come from a more positive place. That really helped. We get to the love faster, and it keeps building throughout the show.

DeRosa: In Chicago, our storyline had too many obstacles. Faith, confidently and articulately and lovingly, put together her thoughts. To their credit, Jerry and Bob and everyone, we all got on the same page. Once we started rehearsals for New York, it really began getting better. We've solidified Grampy and Valentina's relationship in a smart, positive way.

Prince: I really love the development process. I mean, would I love a little more meat for Stephen and I? Yes. But like [Broadway director] Walter Bobbie says: "The good news is there's no fat." And he's right! It's fun and I want this sucker to run so I can have a good time, amen.

Snook: In BOOP!, sneezing is a symptom of being in love. Faith, I assume that's a nod to your Tony-winning role of Miss Adelaide from Guys and Dolls, since she sings about developing a cold while waiting for a proposal?

DeRosa: That was there before Faith! A couple of my friends came to the show the other night and they were like, "Why aren't there more references to the fact that she's got a cold? I mean, it's Faith Prince!"

Prince: Bob did have one line in an earlier draft, but it felt too on the nose, so he took it out. I even said to him, "I wish I could 'achoo' at the end," meaning now that Grampy and I are together, I actually have a cold. I thought that was funny, Bob not so much. I did give out hankies for opening, and I had embroidered on them: "Boop, oop, achoo." I thought that was quite clever of myself.

Snook: Faith, you’ve known BOOP! director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell for decades, ever since you worked together in your Broadway debut, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, in which you fittingly played Tessie Tura from Gypsy.

Prince: Yes, he was actually one of the assistants to the choreographer, Jerome Robbins. He led my group, which was the character people. We had ballet class. He called us "the beefs."

Snook: The beefs? So many meat references today!

Prince: I know, so much meat. Where's the beef? Anyway, it was me, Jason Alexander, Debbie Shapiro Gravitte, Susann Fletcher, a bunch of us character people. He would run a very special ballet class for us, and I got to know him very well. We were really close, and then we sort of lost touch. Over the years, he's pulled me in for different things, but we never did another full-fledged show together until now.

Snook: Valentina is an astrophysicist who looks like she moonlights as an ecdysiast. Are you a science geek?

Prince: My dad was a nuclear engineer! I don't have my dad's mind for physics, but honestly, the way I break things down and pull things apart as a performer and teacher, just the way I process things is like his brain. So I do have insight into Valentina, and I understand how she is two things, because my nuclear engineer dad knew every joke known to man and he played the piano by ear. He loved to entertain.

Snook: Valentina was invented for the musical, but Stephen, Grampy is based on a Betty Boop cartoon character. Did you watch the old shorts for inspiration?

DeRosa: I looked up Grampy, I did all my homework. But you know, I grew up with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, those were my first teachers in terms of performing. And I sort of have that sensibility naturally. I come from a big, loud Italian family. My boyfriend is Southern and quiet, and he doesn't understand that. Volume isn't a bad thing in my world. Gestures are what we do, that's my biology. I did go to a high school of science, so I have a little bit of Grampy's inventor background. He's really fun to play.

Prince: And we really, really get on. Oh, honey, I'm telling you, it makes such a difference.

Snook: I love your Act II duet, "Whatever It Takes." It's a total showstopper as you two profess your love.

Prince: Jerry wanted a song like "I Still Get Jealous" from High Button Shoes or "Timeless to Me" from Hairspray. It also is a great mirror for Betty to learn what love is. Like Grampy, she doesn't even know what it is at first.

DeRosa: They built that number around me and Faith. One of my favorite lyrics is: "I'll grow old with you. That's what lovers do." To me, that sort of encapsulates their whole story quite gloriously.

Snook: Faith, it's been nine years since you were on Broadway. Are you enjoying being back?

Prince: It's been all consuming! I'm so happy we only have to do the show now [no rehearsals].

DeRosa: I agree. I never thought doing eight shows a week would seem like a relief as we go panting up those stairs to our dressing rooms.

Prince: Let's face it, Jerry runs those numbers, baby. I won't tell you what I say to the kids every night before, "Where Is Betty?" Oh yes I will: "Let's get this motherfucker over with." And they die laughing.

DeRosa: Faith is the most accomplished of the company, but she also is this kind of mama. Everyone can talk to her. She can cut to the chase in the best, funniest way. I'm fanning over her because I love her. She's wise, she's generous, she’s smart, she's a star. She's one of the great old Broadway broads.

Prince: I'm gonna cry. Stephen radiates sunshine and I thank god I've got him in my life, because the yin and the yang of that is what works on stage. We're so lucky, the fact that we get to be around these young people and feed off their energy. I get juice just watching them. They're brilliant, and it makes you want to go to work when you have people around you who inspire you. Our producer, Bill Haber, he was like, "I just want this show to bring joy. Right now, that's more important than ever." Amen to that.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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The show is also frequently available at our TKTS Discount Booths.