New York based Betty Boop's movies feature songs written by America’s most famous composers performed by many of America’s greatest musicians.
On screen performances by musical legends
Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Don Redman,
as well as performances by many of Betty’s Broadway and Hollywood friends are featured in the films.
Celebrated vocalist and ASCAP award-winning composer Kathy Kosins presents a vocal and instrumental evening of newly commissioned arrangements of classic American songs from the motion pictures of Betty Boop.
The arrangements written by Paul Keller
bring a fresh, contemporary sensibility to the songs, while retaining the
rich heritage of the compositions.
Rhapsody In Boop is a live concert featuring some of the best musical moments from the films of Betty Boop.
This unique event appeals to audiences of all ages.
The history of Betty Boop:
An urban, Americana-informed sensibility marked many of the Betty Boop films, as they were often set in
Many of America’s most famous songwriters (Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, etc.) wrote songs which appeared in the Betty Boop films. A partial list of those songs can be found
In addition to being the toast of Broadway, Betty Boop stared in over 100 motion pictures for Paramount Pictures. Betty used her films as an opportunity to perform with many of her friends from the world of American music.
Betty provided work and recognition for many of the leading instrumental artists of the 1930s, including Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers, Don Redman and his Orchestra and Luis Russell and his Orchestra.
Many well-known musicians played in the recording sessions for Betty's movies including Benny Goodman, and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.
In essence, Betty Boop introduced this brand of music to the movies and to a wider American audience in the early 1930s.
Today, the Betty Boop movies would be regarded as akin to music videos, as their purpose was to promote the music of the artists.
These movies were the first opportunity many viewers had of seeing Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway. For some in the audience, it was the first time they heard this type of music.
Betty Boop’s movies - urban, ethnic, surrealistic and offbeat were created in New York City at the