Student Blog: The TikTokification of Musical Theatre Songs

Throughout my years on TikTok, I’ve witnessed several trends come and go; some good, some bad, most including a song accompanied by a cringe-worthy dance. However, though I’m not quite sure how, there have been several instances of songs from musicals gaining popularity among TikTok users and ultimately becoming trends that thousands of users take part in. The best part is that most people who post videos using these songs don’t even understand that they are from musicals. So, how are theatre songs able to gain such popularity on TikTok? 

For one, a good number of the songs that I've noticed have taken the TikTok world by storm have some sort of dance or actability to them. A great example of this is the song “When Veruca Says” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the snippet of this song that became popular on TikTok includes Veruca Salt shouting demands at her father, Mr. Salt, who complies accordingly. This song- which reached its peak on TikTok in May of 2020- allows people to utilize TikTok’s duet feature, letting two or more people to participate thus creating a collaborative environment. Along with this, the song grants users the ability to act a fool and display comical emotions by portraying Veruca, who is extremely obnoxious throughout the song. Similarly, “Big Fun” from Heathers took TikTok by storm in September of 2019 (seriously, I’m fairly certain anybody reading this post knows the exact section of the song I am writing about). This song also allows users to make big character choices and perform a fun dance, which is likely why the song became such a big hit on the platform. 

Along with this, “When He Sees Me” from Waitress hit TikTok hard in 2022 and continues to appear on my “For You” page now and then. TikTokers who use this song play the chorus in the background of a video where they are usually featured leaping, twirling, and bouncing through an open space with a witty caption over the screen. Such captions frequently include red flags or toxic traits within individuals they are interested in pursuing romantically. Some of my favorite captions include, “When I have to question if he even likes girls,” and “When you literally know he doesn’t like you” (Via @ryleerodriiguez and @madihoward80 on TikTok). The deprecating subtitles paired with the upbeat song and joyful dancing culminate in a hilarious, beautiful, and sad TikTok that leaves the viewer (or, maybe just me) giggling while simultaneously feeling as if they relate slightly too much.

Finally, my personal favorite trend that features a musical theatre song is one that has gained popularity just recently. Users have been making edits to “We Both Reached For The Gun” from Chicago, where they take the, “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, they both reached for the gun,” part of the song and include visuals featuring two characters who are both going after the same thing, whether it be a person or an item. For example, one TikTok partaking in this trend features Janice and Regina George from Mean Girls going after Cady Heron, as both of them manipulate her in some way or another throughout the film. In the TikTok, Cady is referred to as “the gun,” or the item both Janis and Regina are influencing, while the latter two characters are the ones reaching for said gun.​​ This trend has sparked so much creative imagination on TikTok, and I enjoy every single edit I see that features this song. 

Altogether, each of the musical theatre songs that have gained popularity on TikTok have one thing in common: they each tell a story. The narrative style of musical theater songs allows people to emote and take on creative liberty (especially on TikTok) in a way that most pop songs don’t come close to doing. Personally, I love seeing representation of the community that I love so deeply on such a large platform. Especially with people who generally aren’t involved in theatre, it’s special seeing songs I have known for quite some time be spotlighted. In the future, I hope to see musical theatre songs continue to thrive on TikTok and get the recognition they rightfully deserve from both theater kids and new audiences alike.