The 'Ratatouille' musical that began as a TikTok trend earned over $1 million in ticket sales

<p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5fd13ad3240ebd00126be0c8-2000/ratatouille the musical live event.png" border="0" alt="ratatouille the musical live event" data-mce-source="@ratatousicalthemusical/@e_jaccs/TikTok" data-mce-caption="The &amp;quotRatatouille: The TikTok Musical&amp;quot marquee as it appears in the event trailer."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>"Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical" earned over $1 million in ticket sales from its virtual New Year's Day stream, according to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ratatouille-the-tiktok-musical-serves-crowdsourced-culinary-content-to-aid-the-actors-fund">The Hollywood Reporter</a> and a <a href="https://twitter.com/ratatousical/status/1345197450458501124">tweet</a> from the production's official Twitter account.</p><p>The project, which <a href="https://www.insider.com/ratatouille-musical-live-broadway-how-to-watch-tickets-tiktok-livestream-2020-12">Insider's Palmer Haasch previously reported began</a> as a series of user-generated videos on TikTok, was picked up by the theater production company Seaview Productions and turned into a Broadway-scale musical starring Tony-award winning talent and the 20-piece Broadway Sinfonietta orchestra.</p><p>Some proceeds from the benefit event (which will be streamable for 72 hours) will go to The Actors Fund, a charity that supports performers and other entertainment workers who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broadway-covid-actors-manhattan-eat-now-pay-later-restaurants-2020-10">have been hit hard</a> by theater closures during the coronavirus pandemic. Broadway venues shut their doors on March 12, 2020, and aren't expected to reopen until May 30, 2021 at the earliest.&nbsp;</p><p>Based on the Pixar film "Ratatouille," Seaview's musical includes 12 rat- and cooking-themed songs performed by actors like Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Andrew Barth Feldman, Andr De Shields, and Ashley Park. The show was initially tested out in a series of TikTok posts where users created their own musical renditions of scenes from the film. One creator, Jess Siswick, even <a href="https://twitter.com/tinymallet/status/1327652187980312579's=20">designed a playbill</a> for the musical that was eventually turned into the project's <a href="https://www.playbill.com/article/presenting-the-official-fake-ratatouille-playbill">official Playbill</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>TikTok has become a central hub for music artists and other performers over the past year as many in-person events have shut down during the pandemic. One need look no further than the <a href="https://www.insider.com/billboard-hot-100-tiktok-dance-challenge-drake-doja-cat-weeknd-2020-4" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="20">Billboard 100</a> or Spotify Viral 50 to see how TikTok trends have left an imprint on the entertainment industry in recent months.</p><p>Artists' songs can rise on TikTok quickly and unexpectedly, as was the case with Matthew Wilder's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sony-music-tiktok-plan-for-trending-songs-break-my-stride-2020-5">"Break My Stride"</a> and Fleetwood Mac's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-spray-ceo-tiktok-fleetwood-mac-cranberry-juice-dreams-truck-2020-10">"Dreams"</a> which reemerged into pop culture last year after gaining steam on the app. In other instances, marketers or artists try to make songs take off by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-charli-damelio-help-music-artist-tiagz-get-record-deal-2020-4" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="20">tapping into existing TikTok fads</a>, creating&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/creative-agency-movers-shakers-tiktok-dance-music-campaign-elf-cosmetics-2020-5" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="20">original songs</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-tiktok-campaign-helped-surfaces-sunday-best-song-become-hit-2020-5" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="20">adapting tracks</a>&nbsp;for TikTok's short-video format and hiring influencers to promote them.</p><p>In the case of "Ratatouille: The Musical," the group was able to pull together the TikTok-born concept into a full-scale streamable performance in <a href="https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/12/31/22206943/ratatouille-musical-oral-history-tiktok-trend-making-of">a matter of weeks.</a></p><p>"This event really highlights a lot of the TikTok creators, and we're very happy we got this recognition," Christopher Routh, the project's set designer, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/theater/ratatouille-tiktok-musical.html">told the New York Times</a>. "We can take our content and do something good with it, not only raise money for the show but make sure that Broadway comes back stronger than ever."</p><p><strong>F</strong><strong>or more stories on how TikTok has left its mark on the music and entertainment industries, read these other Business Insider posts:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/record-label-exec-shares-ways-to-promote-song-on-tiktok-2020-11" data-analytics-post-depth="80">How a 91-year-old record label is using TikTok to promote its artists, including hiring micro influencers to spark trends</a>: RCA Records' digital marketing lead, Tarek Al-Hamdouni, walked Business Insider through the label's strategy for promoting artists and songs on TikTok.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-power-players-using-tiktok-to-transform-the-music-industry-2020-8" data-analytics-post-depth="100">The 24 power players using TikTok to transform the music industry, from marketers and record execs to artists</a>: Business Insider compiled a list of the music marketers, artists, digital creators, and record labels that are using TikTok to reshape popular music.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-tiktok-music-team-helps-artists-songs-chart-trend-2020-8" data-analytics-post-depth="100">Inside TikTok's music division, where staffers analyze data to spot trends and use different 'promo levers' to help songs blow up</a>: Business Insider spoke with TikTok's music team to learn how it works with artists, labels, and users to shape the music experience on the app.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sony-music-tiktok-plan-for-trending-songs-break-my-stride-2020-5" data-analytics-post-depth="100">A Sony Music exec explains the label's TikTok strategy and how it responds when a song like 'Break My Stride' catches fire</a>: Business Insider spoke with the marketing team at Sony Music's Legacy Recordings to learn about its strategy for promoting trending songs on TikTok.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-charli-damelio-help-music-artist-tiagz-get-record-deal-2020-4" data-analytics-post-depth="100">Music artist Tiagz explains how he mastered TikTok's algorithm to score a major record deal, with help from Charli D'Amelio and a 1950s jazz classic</a>: The Canadian rapper Tiagz (Tiago Garcia-Arenas) has built a career as a producer by strategically uploading songs to the short-form-video app TikTok.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ratatouille-musical-tiktok-earned-1-million-in-ticket-sales-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pikes-peak-hill-climb-colorado-most-dangerous-racetrack-2020-2">Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America</a></p>
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