We have already seen our first show of 2021 -- Ratatouille the Musical: a TikTok Sensation.
In August 2020 a 26-year old school teacher created a TikTok video(?) for a pretend musical based on Pixar's Ratatoille. Over a few months, other bored theater fans added to the show -- wrote songs, created choreography, sets, dream casting, music, etc. A few months later Playbill decided to turn it into a virtual show and charge fans $5 for a 72-hour pass to watch it online. The money went to The Actor's Fund to help out of work theater people pay their bills, a cause that hit the heart of its star, Broadway sensation Tituss Burgess.
This all started as a joke and became something not only real, but huge.
As of their debut on January 1st, 80,000 people bought access to the show. The next day the numbers were over 160,000. More than $1,000,000 has been raised.
Not only that, but the rules for creating shows and getting them on stage have changed. Instead of taking years, these TikTokers showed in a few months they can go from "page to stage."
The show even had a pre-show red carpet experience where people involved with the production shared their feelings and process.
A few images from the show.
Here are a couple of articles about it that explain the phenomenon better than I can.
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