From Meme To Mainstream: ‘Ratatouille: The Tiktok Musical’ Will Get A Broadway-Style Production
Here’s an extremely “2020” bit of news: an imaginary musical based on the Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille, which started life as a meme on Tiktok, is “coming” to Broadway in a virtual format.
Seaview Productions, known for the multi-Tony-nominated Slave Play, is at work on a “filmed concert presentation” of Ratatouille: The Tiktok Musical, which developed from a viral song posted on Tiktok. The special will stream on Todaytix on January 1, 2021 at 7 p.m. ET as a benefit for The Actors Fund, and will then remain available on demand for 72 hours.
In August, Tiktok user Emily Jacobsen uploaded a video in which she sings an ode to Remy, the 2007 film’s rat protagonist, in a chipmunk voice: “Remy, the Ratatouille, the rat of all my dreams / I praise you, oh Ratatouille, may the world remember your name.”
@e_jaccs A love ballad ##remy ##rat ##ratatoille ##disney ##wdw ##disneyworld ##ratlove ##ratlife ##rats ##Alphets ##StanleyCup ##CanYouWorkIt
Afterwards, the song was orchestrated by composer Daniel Mertzlufft, sparking the creation of a crowd-sourced musical: scores of people, including idle Broadway artists, contributed their own talents to the project on the video-sharing app. Among them was Jess Siswick, who mocked up a playbill for the show, which was subsequently adopted and developed by Playbill itself. Explore the contributions on Tiktok’s #ratatouillemusical hashtag.
Seaview’s event is billed as follows: “Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical will celebrate the delectable crowd-sourced creation by giving it the full high-kicking, lip-smacking Broadway treatment. It’s your musical, cooked to perfection!” Details are scarce — the cast and creative team have yet to be announced — but singer and lyricist Katie Jo (who penned a song for the musical) wrote on Twitter that “all of the Tiktok creators are involved and being compensated”; the musical’s official account retweeted her.
Hey all- the ratatouille tiktok musical isn’t coming to broadway, it’s a one night only charity concert to raise money for the actors fund, a great cause for our community, and all of the tiktok creators are involved and being compensated 💕
— katie jo (@katiejoyofosho) December 10, 2020
Disney has endorsed the production, telling The Verge: “Although we do not have development plans for the title, we love when our fans engage with Disney stories. We applaud and thank all of the online theatre makers for helping to benefit The Actors Fund in this unprecedented time of need.”
Tickets for Ratatouille: The Tiktok Musical cost between $5 and $50. See here for more information.
