TikTok really had its moment in 2020. We were all stuck in our homes, clicking through video after video just to laugh during that trash-heap of a year. Out of those
many hours of collective time we all spent on TikTok, came something beautiful (besides all those takes on the "Four Seasons Total Landscaping" blunder): a Ratatouille musical.
As BuzzFeed reports, a Hartsdale, New York, woman Emily Jacobsen started singing a song about Remy, the Ratatouille rat.
"While cleaning up around the apartment, I started singing this little song to myself about the main character Remy...and as the day went on, I could not get it out of my head," she told BuzzFeed. It went: "Reeeeeeemy the Ratatouille, the rat of all my dreams."
From there, things really took off. Basically, Jacobsen posted this video just to share a giggle with the internet. But she seemed to underestimate how hungry musical theater nerds, deprived of Broadway shows for several months, would be for a brand-new musical creation. Thus began the push to make Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical.
On the evening of January 1, 2021, the musical premiered TodayTix.com as a benefit concert for The Actors Fund, which is supporting actors who are not able to work during the global pandemic.
The full cast was: 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). Cori Jaskier, Talia Suskauer, Nikisha Williams, JJ Niemann, John Michael Lyles, Raymond J. Lee, and Joy Woods were the ensemble.
The orchestra was The Broadway Sinfonietta, an ensemble of female BIPOC musicians.
Give it up for The Broadway Sinfonietta (@shenyc_arts), a new all-female orchestra collective w/ a mission to support the visibility, existence, excellence & equity of female BIPOC musicians, orchestrators & contractors. #RatatouilleMusicalhttps://t.co/0KyZo103Er
— Ratatouille Musical (@ratatousical) January 2, 2021
Here's how Twitter reacted to the TikTok dream that came true:
My parents tell me the story of watching the Moon Landing live. I will tell my kids the story of watching #RatatouilleMusical on opening night. pic.twitter.com/RNGiAsbkRj
— ❄️?Wreath Nagy?❄️ (@keithlnagy) January 2, 2021
Pop off Colette #RatatouilleMusical#ratatouillethemusicalpic.twitter.com/aTgsfiugta
— ?Nodi? (@Nodibean_) January 2, 2021
I think we can all tell who is the most invested in #RatatouilleMusicalpic.twitter.com/aezZsi3REP
— Nicole Abarca Powell (@MyCouchHasADent) January 2, 2021
first show of 2021 #RatatouilleMusicalpic.twitter.com/YYHdiRYbPZ
— ashley hufford (she/her) (@ashleyhufford) January 2, 2021
He said ✨Rat in Paris✨ #ratatouillethemusical#RatatouilleMusicalpic.twitter.com/h5E4bTflHy
— Justine (@justfran97) January 2, 2021
this casting is ? #RatatouilleMusicalpic.twitter.com/jLFoiJV6YF
— ashley hufford (she/her) (@ashleyhufford) January 2, 2021
Is it even a Broadway show if it doesn't include a kickline? #RatatouilleMusicalpic.twitter.com/mgDKHirBrw
— Ratatouille Musical (@ratatousical) January 2, 2021
Ok so when is the cast album coming out? @ratatousical#ratatouillethemusical#RatatouilleMusical#Ratatousicalpic.twitter.com/QqMRxyiKO4
— Jake Berman (@JakeBerm) January 2, 2021
Thank you, 2020 (can't believe I'm saying that) for manifesting this glorious moment on the first day of 2021.