It's not every day you get to see a new Broadway star be born, but I witnessed it at the first preview of BOOP!, a splashy new musical about the iconic cartoon character Betty Boop.

Who’s Betty Boop? Beyond the iconography you might have seen on a lunchbox or keychain, what do you really know? You can recognize her curls, her red flapper dress, and her pursed lips, plus maybe the ...