BWW Blog: Could TikTok Be The Future of Musical Theatre?

If you haven't heard about it by now, there's a new movie being adapted into a musical: Ratatouille. Well, not officially, but the Gen Z'ers of TikTok have spent the last month or so writing a musical adaptation for the 2007 Pixar film. It all started when TikTok user Em Jaccs posted a video of herself singing the now-title song. The sound took off, and became even more popular when TikTok user @danieljmertzlufft posted a video where he added to the original song, making it a massive ensemble number with a full orchestra fit to be a show closer. The trend caught on like wildfire. Now, the "Ratatousical" has nearly a full story's worth of songs, including ballads, duets, tangos, villain songs, story concepts, Playbill designs, and even an overture. While it isn't Broadway-bound (yet), this raises an important question: could this be the future of musical theatre?

The concept of the Ratatouille musical seems far-fetched, especially with how it was made. But the truth is, it really isn't. Let's look at Spongebob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical. This not only made it to Broadway, but was nominated for 12 Tony Awards. Additionally, each song in Spongebob was written by a different artist. True, the songwriters were all well-known musicians such as Panic! At the Disco, Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, and David Bowie, which is different than random Gen Z'ers on TikTok. Still, though, it was an unlikely concept, an adaptation from material meant for kids, and was a collaborative effort. Especially in the time of COVID-19, TikTok may be the best way to collaborate.

We have already seen a large gathering of the theatre community on TikTok. Beloved Broadway stars such as Kristen Chenoweth, Ryan McCartan, Jordan Fisher, and Renee Rapp are just a few examples of members of the theatre community that have active TikTok accounts. Especially since all live performance venues are closed, the platform gives actors an opportunity to interact with their fans and perform for a large audience. The duet feature has played a big role in TheatreTok as well. Some music accounts post themselves playing a piano accompaniment part, with other users duetting to sing the part. It helps people find true talent and gives a platform to singers from around the world, especially during a time when they can't perform elsewhere.

The Ratatouille musical itself has actually benefited from duets too - a lot of users add on to songs to create a singing duet, or to add harmonies to instrumental parts. TikTok has allowed people from around the world to participate in the same project as essentially create an entire musical based on one funny idea. Part of this is definitely because pandemic lockdowns have given people more free time, and theatre kids miss Broadway so much that they are willing to consume any new musical content that they can. Will the Ratatousical make it to Broadway? Probably not. But is a TikTok collaborative musical ever going to be produced? I think it is very possible. I can't guarantee that it will necessarily be high art or successful, but the idea of it is really fun to think about. As the times change, theatre will too, and this may be an opportunity to make musical theatre more inclusive in its creation and performance. Only time will tell, but I will say this; if by some miracle Ratatouille: The Musical does make it to Broadway one day, I will be first in line to buy tickets.

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