Sam Casey
Editor in Chief
Navigating life in a global pandemic has somehow been equally hectic and uneventful, pushing us helplessly toward our worst vices. The worst one of all? TikTok. While the app’s cult following existed long before we understood what a coronavirus even was, it became even more important once we were confined to our homes all day. We danced to “WAP,” disrupted political rallies, shared sourdough recipes and turned Pixar’s “Ratatouille” into a musical. Yes, you read that right — what started as a single humorous attempt to create a ballad for Remy the rat turned into a virtual Broadway musical! A long time ago I decided not to be surprised anymore by 2020, but this one really threw me for a loop. So, when the musical was set to stream for three days only at the beginning of January, I knew I had to get a ticket.
“Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical,” directed by Lucy Moss, was meant as a benefit performance for The Actor’s Fund, a group that supports the countless entertainment workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. While it ultimately raised a staggering $1.5 million for the Fund, the event was also a testament to the innovative ideas many industries have adopted in this difficult time. Broadway has been shut down since March 2020 and will be for at least half of this year as well, so the creation of a TikTok musical with an A-list cast was a much-needed respite for fans of the stage.
The musical mimics the plot of the 2007 film, following Remy from the sewers of Paris to the award-winning kitchen of Gusteau’s. In fact, the loveable head chef, played by Kevin Chamberlain (who this generation will recognize as the cantankerous butler from “Jessie”), kicks off the musical (before he kicks the bucket) with the opening number, “Anyone Can Cook.” It’s probably the best part of the whole musical — a well-produced, well-written song that eliminates any doubt that a TikTok musical is nothing more than a joke. We are then introduced to Remy, played by “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star Tituss Burgess, who also serves as the narrator. Given the short run time of the show (around an hour), Remy’s rushed narration keeps the plot moving along, a quickly realized downside of a TikTok musical put together in a short time. However, this becomes a moot point once Remy’s dad and brother appear, played by Wayne Brady (who is amazing in everything) and Adam Lambert (American Idol runner-up and new lead singer of Queen), to passionately sing about their love of trash in “Trash is Our Treasure.”
We watch as Remy’s quick narration and several more-to-be-desired musical numbers cover the meteoric rise of Linguini (played by the character’s real-life doppelganger, Andrew Barth Feldman) and the growing frustration of deposed Chef Skinner (magnificently played by Mary Testa, who deserves a special shoutout for her hilarious performance). There is a glimmering moment of redemption with the introduction of Anton Ego, played by the legendary André De Shields, but it falls short because of the seeming “let’s get this over with” attitude. The musical does end on a high note, with an ensemble performance equipped with Zoom background dancers doing the familiar ass-shaking, arm-flailing TikTok moves we’ve come to know and love. It also features lyrics from the original TikTok that started it all, “Remy/the ratatouille,” an incredibly catchy tune that doubles as a witty shoutout to the widely debated “Ratatouille” Mandela effect, in which people falsely remember the rat’s name as the titular vegetable stew.
While I don’t think “Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical” will clean up at the next Tony’s (although if the pandemic continues, it may be the only eligible nominee), the performance deserves an A+ for effort. How one begins to put together a musical via Zoom in only a few months and not have it be a dumpster fire is beyond me. Also, the fact that it raised over a million dollars despite a pay-what-you-can price and monetarily limited Gen Z audience is equally unfathomable. I genuinely feel bad for those who missed experiencing this one-of-a-kind Broadway musical and if it becomes available in the future, I urge you to tune in, if only for the pure ingenuity of those involved.