Disney and Pixar’s Ratatouille taught us that “not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” And Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical proves that even in quarantine, people from all over can come together to create a musical!
The Basics:
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical began when TikTok users collaborated on music and dance numbers based on the 2007 film. Ratatouille is about a rat who can cook and makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous restaurant.
The original creators of the TikTok videos, including Emily Jacobsen, Daniel Mertzlufft, RJ Christian, Blake Rouse, Acacia Pressley, and Kevin Chamberlin participated in the concert, with Lucy Moss as the director. Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley adapted the film and TikToks into the musical’s libretto, with Emily Marshall serving as music director, Mertzlufft as music supervisor, and Ellenore Scott choreographing. Jess Siswick created the official Playbill for the event.
The cast included Wayne Brady as Django, Tituss Burgess as Remy, Kevin Chamberlin as Gusteau, Andrew Barth Feldman as Linguini, Adam Lambert as Emile, Priscilla Lopez as Mabelle, Ashley Park as Colette, André De Shields as Anton Ego, Owen Tabaka as Young Anton Ego, and Mary Testa as Skinner.
Seaview Productions presented the musical as a virtual benefit concert for The Actors Fund. The production raised over $1 million!
My Take:
This musical was exactly what we needed right now. It was funny and whimsical and engaging. We all know and love the story so it wasn’t hard to jump right into the Parisian sewers with Remy.
I had no idea what I was in for when I first heard this production was actually happening. I am a regular on TikTok so I had seen some of the duets and fan submissions so I kind of thought it was going to be just a compilation of TikToks, but with people like Wayne Brady and Adam Lambert attached to it, I also thought that this would be a spectacle. I am happy to say that it was a healthy mix of both. The sets and costumes were simple which gave you a real sense of the theater. The talent all around shone through the production and really encompassed what the story of Ratatouille is all about.
The show didn’t let COVID-19 get in its way and it truly was a top-notch production. The main actors were expectedly amazing but the ensemble stole the show. The expressive mischief of rats really brought the comedy especially when Linguini turns on the light and finds them in the kitchen. All in all, I loved it.
The story itself is wonderful (I mean, come on, it’s Pixar) but the music truly brought it to a new level. There were 12 musical numbers that really helped move the story along and nothing is better than tapdancing rodents. I loved all of the songs, but my favorites were “Anyone Can Cook,’ ‘Kitchen Tango’ and ‘I Knew I Smelled a Rat.’
All I can really say is *chef’s kiss* when are we getting a cast recording?
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical is available for streaming through January 4 at 7 p.m. EST on Todaytix.com.
