Anyone familiar with TikTok will know about the trend that has seemingly taken the platform by storm, Ratatouille the Musical. With broadway stans, musicians, composers, dancers, actors, and designers alike stuck at home during quarantine, they turned to Tik Tok to release their creativity.
The Tik Tok creators who took part in the trend never anticipated their creations would end up in an actual musical, but that is exactly what happened. With Broadway, as we know it canceled, this musical has given people around the world a platform to express themselves and their ideas in a way we have never seen before.
What is Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical?
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical premiered on January 1st at 7 pm. It was available to stream on-demand for the 72 hours following. The musical features many well-known names in the industry along with fresh faces. Seaview Productions, known for producing Slave Play, the most Tony-nominated Broadway show in history, has also produced Ratatouille. The musical featured a virtual red carpet premiere that is available to stream on youtube here. Tickets are sold on TODAY TIX and range from $5-$100. All proceeds go to benefitting the actor’s fund and have already made over $1 million in ticket sales. You can check out the official website for the musical here, along with the full virtual playbill here.
How Did The Musical Come to be?
The re-introduction of Ratatouille, the 2007 Disney/Pixar film, into pop-culture began when a song on the Ratatouille soundtrack, “Le Festin”, became a widely known Tik Tok trend. People would show off lavish landscapes or great recipes with the song in the background. The trend evolved as users took it in a more comical direction, seemingly making fun of the latter trend by using the song to show off gross meals and living spaces.
Creator Em Jaccs, also known as Emily Jacobson, is the creator whose song sparked the musical buzz. The song was performed a cappella through a high-pitched voice modulator and featured the lyrics, “ Remy, the Ratatouille, the rat of all my dreams/ I praise you, oh Ratatouille, may the world remember your name.” This single TikTok prompted a trend for others to share their own songs about the cartoon rat. One of these users was Daniel Mertzlufft, a composer, who took Jacobson’s song, added vocals, an arrangement, and orchestration, and ended up with a viral masterpiece. Now, if you go under the hashtag #ratatouillemusical you will find over 200 million videos.
Who is Taking Part in it?
This DIY musical features many young creators whose songs have gone viral, including Danny Bernstein, Gabbi Bolt, RJ Christian, Nathan Fosbinder, Emily Jacobson, Sophia James, and Katie Johantgen. Some of the famous names starring in this year’s adaptation of Ratatouille are Emmy award winner, Wayne Brady as Django, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt actor, Titus Burgess as Remy, Disney Channel star, Kevin Chamberlain as Gusteau, rock singer and frontman for Queen, Adam Lambert as Emile, and Emily in Paris actress, Ashley Park as Colette. There are also a lot of people behind the scenes who have made the musical what it is today including Jess Ssiwick. Ssiwick is a TikTok creator who posted a video of her interpretation of the playbill artwork that is now the official playbill cover art for the musical!
The best part about this musical is that it was made by people all over the world who genuinely have a love for the content they are creating. This musical is giving real people a real opportunity in an incredible way we have never seen before. Ratatouille: the TikTok Musical is giving people hope that wonderful things can be created, even during a global pandemic.
