BWW Exclusive: Meet the Makers of RATATOUILLE: The TikTok Musical- Nathan Fosbinder

When Broadway is dark, all that it takes is one little rat and a team of up-and-coming theatre makers to save the day. Over the weekend, the Actors Fund revealed that, on its premiere night, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical generated more than $1 million in ticket sales, to benefit The Actors Fund.

Presented by the Tony Award-winning theatrical production company Seaview, in association with TodayTix Presents and TikTok, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical streamed for 72 hours only over the weekend, featuring content created by members of TikTok's #RatatouilleMusical Community, whose collective work has earned the engagement of more than 200 million fans around the globe.

Check out what the critics had to say about the incredible musical event and catch up on what Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical is all about!

Below, BroadwayWorld is catching up with one of the creators, Nathan Fosbinder, who wrote Linguini's big number- "Anyone Can Cook".

The response to this project has been insane from the beginning- what has it been like taking it all in on your end?

As a composer and writer in the normal times, it's been incredible to see how much people really do just want to see musical theatre, and new musical theatre at that. I've had tons of people tell me it's the first time they've been able to completely unplug from how crazy the world is and just watch something fun and heartfelt. It feels amazing to be a small part of that.

Can you tell us more about your inspiration and the work that went into getting it to the finish line?

I only just saw Ratatouille for the first time in April, outrageous though that may be, and Andrew Feldman was in my head as Linguini even as I watched then. Once this started blowing up, it felt like a no brainer to write him a big Disney song where he could showcase his gorgeous voice and how funny and quirky he is. Andrew sent me back one take of the song, crazy acting beats and option ups included, and I put it straight on TikTok!

The song got expanded a bit for the musical, so I got to bounce around some lyric ideas for the new first verse with Andrew and the music supervisor, Daniel Mertzlufft. I hadn't originally written anything but the 45 seconds that were on the TikTok, so getting to expand the song into something with a beginning, middle, and end was super fulfilling. The coolest part of the process was hearing my song on that incredible 20-piece orchestra, as well as hearing little times it was referenced as a motif in the score later.

What are your hopes for the future of Ratatouille?

There's been quite a bit of buzz on social media about people wanting a cast album, and I think that's the perfect next step. The cast and orchestra were all just so perfectly picked for this, I think it'd be a lovely way to preserve the show!

What do you think about the future of TikTok as a starting point for other musicals? Do you think this is wake-up call for producers and other theatre makers to take content on this medium and other social media seriously?

The immediacy of TikTok eliminates any gatekeeping about who can make what. This idea emerging from Ratatouille of "anyone can create" is really beautiful. Something we've all been missing in quarantine is collaboration, and TikTok provided that; dueting, stitching, building off of other creators' ideas in a way we haven't been able to do in person. I think that's a HUGE part of why this gained traction, and why people got emotionally invested in it. People wanted to see if their contribution made it in, and were excited to catch the ideas they were familiar with. That's incredibly valuable, and something that I hope producers consider in the future.

What else are you working on right now?

I'm currently working on adapting a recent Rom-Com into a full length musical. I'm also always fine tuning my musicals heartbeat (co-written with Molly Reisman) and Hephaestus (2019 NAMT grant winner), as well as working on finding interested producers and theatres for them.

I've also got some great ideas for other Disney properties, so...give a boy a call.

Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical starred Wayne Brady (Django), Tituss Burgess (Remy), Kevin Chamberlin (Gusteau), Tony Award winner André De Shields (Ego), Andrew Barth Feldman (Linguini), Grammy Award nominee Adam Lambert (Emile), Tony winner Priscilla Lopez (Mabel), Tony nominee Ashley Park (Colette), Owen Tabaka (Young Ego), and three-time Tony nominee Mary Testa (Skinner), with Cori Jaskier, Talia Suskauer, Nikisha Williams, JJ Niemann, John Michael Lyles, Raymond J. Lee, and Joy Woods as the ensemble.

For more information, please visit Ratatousical.com.