Ratatouille The Musical
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''Ratatouille the Musical'' (also known as ''Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical'', or ''Ratatousical'') is an
Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...
and crowdsourced musical based on the 2007
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
/
Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
film '' Ratatouille''.
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
user Emily Jacobsen created a short comedic song in tribute to Remy, a rat with a talent for cooking and the main character of the film, in August 2020. This led to another TikTok user, Daniel Mertzlufft, arranging Jacobsen's tribute as if it were a finale to a Disney musical. From there, additional TikTok users continued to add to Mertzlufft's video to envision a full musical, including a playbill, scenic design, choreography, and more songs. In December 2020, Seaview Productions announced a charity benefit concert presentation of the musical. The benefit concert was streamed for 72 hours beginning on January 1, 2021, followed by an encore presentation on January 10, 2021. In total, the production raised $2 million for The Actors Fund and had 350,000 total viewers.


Development

During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, users of the social media app
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
collaborated on musical numbers based on unconventional subjects, such as a
grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...
. Earlier in 2020, TikTok users shared cooking videos accompanied by "Le Festin", a song from the Disney/Pixar film '' Ratatouille''. Eventually TikTok users created parodies, including videos of lackluster cooking accompanied by a parody of "Le Festin" with fake French words. In August 2020, Emily Jacobsen, an elementary school teacher, recorded an ode to Remy, the film's main character, among other TikTok video odes to fictional characters. The song went viral after Brittany Broski, a user with millions of followers, reused the music. Two months later, in October, another user, Daniel Mertzlufft, who had previously achieved fame for his "grocery store musical" composition, adapted and arranged the short song as a Disney musical finale. He composed the orchestration in Logic Pro X using software instruments he associated with Disney musicalsparticularly the finale of '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame''including
tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume. Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...
strings,
French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...
, trumpet, brass,
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
, and
tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...
. This video received over a million views and spawned thousands of subsequent TikTok videos in a collaboration between theater students and professionals expanding on the possibility of a Disney musical based on the ''Ratatouille'' film. Subsequent videos repurposed prior contributions, such as the "Ode to Remy" lyrics and orchestration, to add new elements, like set design, choreography, and a
playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...
designed by artist Jess Siswick. Using the TikTok "Duet" feature, users added vocal tracks atop each other to develop musical numbers. One of the most popular songs is a duet between Colette and Linguini sung by between Blake Rouse and Acacia Pressley, composed by Rouse called 'Ratatouille Tango'. Others developed new numbers, such as "The Life of a Rat (Trash Is Our Treasure)" and "A Rat Is a Rat Is a Rat". One contributor, R.J. Christian, created songs for multiple characters in the style of
Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...
. American Broadway actor Andrew Barth Feldman of ''
Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...
'' performed a song. Users created a central hub for the collaboration with 200,000 followers by mid-November 2020.
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
and Broadway
actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
, Kevin Chamberlin, even contributed a song titled "Anyone Can Cook" based on the catchphrase of the original film. Disney responded to the fan activity with a video of
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
actor Milo Manheim performing a submission for the musical at the site of a ''Ratatouille''-themed ride at
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
.


Benefit concert

On December 9, 2020, it was announced that Seaview Productions would present a filmed concert version of the musical on January 1, 2021, with the event benefitting The Actors Fund. The original creators of the TikTok videos, including Jacobsen, Mertzlufft, Christian, Rouse, Pressley and Chamberlin would all participate in the concert, with '' Six'' co-creator and co-director Lucy Moss directing. Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley adapted the film and TikToks into the musical's libretto, with Mertzlufft serving as music supervisor, Macy Schmidt as Orchestrator, Emily Marshall as music director, and Ellenore Scott choreographing. The concert was co-executive produced by Jeremy O. Harris. Siswick's poster design was used for the production. Live entertainment marketing agency Marathon Digital handled the concert's marketing campaign. At the end of December, the cast was announced, including Wayne Brady as Django, Tituss Burgess as Remy, Kevin Chamberlin as Gusteau, Andrew Barth Feldman as Linguini,
Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...
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. Ensemble members included
Adrianna Hicks Adrianna Hicks is a musical theatre actress known for originating the roles of Catherine of Aragon in the Broadway production of ''Six (musical), SIX'' and Sugar in the musical adaptation of ''Some Like It Hot (musical), Some Like It Hot''. She h ...
, Cori Jaskier, Raymond J. Lee, John Michael Lyles, Courtney Mack, Mallory Maedke, JJ Niemann, Samantha Pauly, Talia Suskauer, Anna Uzele, Nikisha Williams, and Joy Woods. The 20-piece all-female, majority women-of-color Broadway Sinfonietta orchestra performed the music. The concert featured cameo appearances from
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reporter Sandy Kenyon as the TV news anchor who announces Gusteau's death and '' A Strange Loop''s Larry Owens as a news reporter. Breslin and Foley also cameo as reporters. A sneak peek performance of one of the new songs written for Remy in the concert, "Remember My Name", was released on December 30, 2020. The preview was performed by Mertzlufft, who adapted the song with Kate Leonard from Jacobsen's original "Ode to Remy" and is the "I Want" song of the concert. A virtual red carpet pre-show was held on the day of the performance, hosted by Kristolyn Lloyd (''
Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...
'') and Luka Kain ('' South Pacific'', '' Saturday Church''). Tickets to the performance was sold on a "contribute what you can" basis, ranging from US$5 to US$100 each. On January 9, 2021, it was announced that an encore presentation of the musical would be streamed for free on TikTok, with donations to the Actors Fund encouraged, on January 10, 2021. The performances raised over $2 million for The Actors Fund and featured a 350,000 total viewers.


Cast and characters


Musical numbers

Source: # "Overture" – Orchestra (Written by Alec Powell) # "Anyone Can Cook" – Gusteau, Remy, and Ensemble (Music and lyrics by Kevin Chamberlin; additional material by Daniel Mertzlufft) # "Trash Is Our Treasure" – Django (Music and lyrics by Gabbi Bolt) # "Remember My Name" – Remy (Music by Mertzlufft; lyrics by Kate Leonard) # "Anyone Can Cook (Reprise)" – Linguini (Music and lyrics by Nathan Fosbinder) # "Kitchen Tango" – Colette and Linguini (Music and lyrics by Blake Rouse) # "Rat's Way of Life" – Emile, Remy, and Ensemble (Music and lyrics by Rouse) # "I Knew I Smelled a Rat" – Skinner (Music and lyrics by Sophia James) # "Ratatouille" – Ego (Music and lyrics by R.J. Christian) # "Ego's Flashback" - Ego and Young Ego (Music and lyrics by Danny K. Berstein and Katie Johantgen) # "Finale" – Company (Music and lyrics by Emily Jacobsen and Mertzlufft) # "Ratamix" - Company (Arranged by Mertzlufft)


Reception and influence

Ashley Lee of the ''
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'' initially braced for a lower-budget presentation, but her skepticism waned after the end of the overture and first number. Highlighting the performances of Brady, Park, and Burgess, Lee added, "Without any slick sets, naturalistic props or costars who are even in the same room, their playful performances were still so inventive and full of story — theater, at its core." As for the songs, she felt they "genuinely celebrate the compositional conventions of musical theater and animated Disney movies, and feel as if they’re written by those who truly love them". Lee also applauded Daniel Mertzlufft's work on giving the different songs a cohesive arrangement despite being written by different people. Lee concluded that she hoped the benefit concert would encourage theater creators and fans to "seek out and embrace its undiscovered voices". Viewers particularly praised Brady for his commitment to the concert and role. Kim Lyons of ''
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'' said "It did not have all the glitz and glamour of a high-end Broadway production, but the caliber of the performances given from their homes by the actors, musicians, and dancers (yes, even a kick line!) are top-notch." ''
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'' theater critic Jesse Green gave it a mostly positive review, praising the songs, but criticizing the book, mainly its reliance on Remy's narration. He also thought that the haste that the show was created in has kept it shallow. He concluded by saying, "There may be too many chefs, but they offer, as one character puts it, 'just the right amount of cheese.'" Bob Verini gave the production four star in his review for ''New York Stage Review''. He praised the cast, particularly feeling De Shields was "an ideal replacement for Peter O'Toole’s silky food critic Anton Ego", but criticized Park's French accent. Verini also noted those unfamiliar with the film could lose key elements of the plot, such as why and how Remy hides inside Linguini's ''toque'' and did not like that Burgess had to rely on cue cards, but added that was understandable given the time constraints. He hoped the production had a future as a full production, stating "Visually and emotionally, the material has a lot more to offer than many another previously adapted animated epic." The creation of the musical has inspired singer-songwriter Abigail Barlow and composer Emily Bear to write songs for a theorized musical adaptation of the
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series ''
Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...
''. In 2021
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, the musical won the People's Voice award in the Social Video category for Television & Film.


References


Further reading

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External links

*
#ratatouillemusical
on
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
{{COVID-19 pandemic in the United States 2021 musicals COVID-19 pandemic benefit concerts Crowdsourcing Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts Internet memes introduced in 2020 Musicals based on animated films Ratatouille (film) Cultural responses to the COVID-19 pandemic TikTok Unofficial adaptations