Stars: 5/5
What better way to deal with the stress of a global pandemic other than make a beloved childhood movie into a musical?
I know I can’t think of one, and “Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical’’ was a hit. The TikTokers creating this show were all over my For You Page for weeks and I loved every second of it. There were people from all over the world creating songs, dances, stage cues, art, props and so much more.
Excitement built as the TikToks caught the attention of Disney on TikTok. Not long after, the official Playbill Instagram account posted Jess Siswick’s amazing Playbill for the show.
I’m not going to lie, that’s all I really expected to happen, and I was happy. Well, I was thrilled in early December when they announced the show was going to get a concert presentation. They continued to update fans, and then announced the cast of the show a few days before its debut on New Year’s Day.
I personally couldn’t have thought of a better way to start the new year, so I bought a ticket immediately. Tickets were $5, but people could pay more by choice, and all of the money went to The Actor’s Fund to provide for workers in the arts who are
currently out of work due to the pandemic.
There was a star-studded cast with beloved actors like André De Shields from the hit musical “Hadestown” as Anton Ego, Ashley Park from “Mean Girls” the musical and most recently “Emily In Paris” as Colette, as well as Wayne Brady as Django and Adam Lambert as Emile.
Our leading men were Tituss Burgess, Broadway star and well known for his work in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” who played Remy and Andrew Barth Feldman, the breakout star from his early Broadway debut in “Dear Evan Hansen,” as Linguini.
Everyone was amazing, but Feldman sold me on his performance as Linguini. Not only does he look the part, but he completely embodied him while acting as well.
As a theater fan and a lover of the original film, I was really excited to watch this. There were a lot of opinions on the show, but personally I loved it.
This was Broadway’s first virtual debut, and due to the circumstances, it was obviously not the same as a typical Broadway show. Regardless, I thought it was fun and had a lot of heart. Since I saw it blossom from the beginning on TikTok, it was exciting to see it all come together.
The songs were genuinely good I love them all, but my favorite has to be “The Rat’s Way Of Life” by Blake Rouse. It’s a full bop and it hasn’t left my head since I first saw the show.
It’s amazing that during the pandemic so many people came together to do what they love and create something this special. Best of all, over $1 million has been raised for the Actor’s Fund.
The cast had an encore show on TikTok live on Sunday to try to raise $2 million for the Actor’s Fund, and they did just that. I watched the show again as a pick me up before school started, and I loved it just as much as the debut.
Logistically and legally, I’m not sure if it would work, but when Broadway comes back, I would love to have this show be a real thing. This was Broadway’s first virtual premiere, and with the announcement of “Mean Girls” the musical closing its doors, it’s unsure what the future of Broadway will be. I do know that theater contributors and fans alike are resilient, so no matter what happens, theater will live on one way or another.
Playbill made an article featuring all of the TikTok creators who helped create the show which you can read here. You can donate to the Actor’s Fund here.