BWW Exclusive: Meet the Makers of RATATOUILLE: The TikTok Musical- Gabbi Bolt – Broadway World

When Broadway is dark, all that it takes is one little rat and a team of up-and-coming theatre makers to save the day. Last weekend, the Actors Fund revealed that, on its premiere night, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical generated more than $1 million in ticket sales, to benefit The Actors Fund.

Presented by the Tony Award-winning theatrical production company Seaview, in association with TodayTix Presents and TikTok, Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical streamed for 72 hours only over the weekend, featuring content created by members of TikTok's #RatatouilleMusical Community, whose collective work has earned the engagement of more than 200 million fans around the globe.

Check out what the critics had to say about the incredible musical event and catch up on what Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical is all about!

Below, BroadwayWorld is catching up with one of the creators, Gabbi Bolt, who wrote Django's big number, "Trash Is Our Treasure"!

The response to this project has been insane from the beginning- what has it been like taking it all in on your end?

This project has changed my life. It's overwhelming! It has been absolutely bizarre to sit and watch the musical from my town of Bathurst NSW Australia, and know that I helped work on it! People have been so supportive, they're making me consider a career in composing!

Can you tell us more about your inspiration and the work that went into getting it to the finish line?

I wrote the song "Trash is our Treasure" for Remy's dad Django. When I initially wrote it, the first little verse and chorus you see on the TikTok was very quickly made! It blew up overnight and so I felt a little nagging voice to finish it. I ended up writing a demo (that ended up becoming what Wayne Brady (!) sang) and uploading it to YouTube. There was also a little voice saying "make the piano/vocal sheet music" so I did! I am very glad too, because then when I found out about the musical, the bare bones of my song had already been notated!

The team were incredibly kind and allowed me to co-orchestrate my song. I learnt a lot through that process and wrote down what I could hear in my head. I was very happy to hear that they had taken what I notated and tweaked it to make it sound incredible with a real orchestra. I will forever thank the music team for the work they put in on the song!

What are your hopes for the future of Ratatouille?

I hope it inspires others! I hope people feed off the collaborative energy and want to built and devise shows with each other! It truly is so much fun and I felt super supported by my TikTok creative peers.

What do you think about the future of TikTok as a starting point for other musicals? Do you think this is wake-up call for producers and other theatre makers to take content on this medium and other social media seriously?

I think producers, while not having to exclusively use TikTok etc. should DEFINITELY scout for talent on these apps more. SO MANY creative young people reside online and their talent is mind blowing. I think if producers went looking, they would find HOARDS of worthy contenders in the theatre industry who have just been waiting for their shot. It would give hope to people in regional areas or lower socioeconomic backgrounds to know that they CAN have a creative career, no matter where they come from.

As someone in Bathurst, Australia, I certainly feel like I have way more of a drive to work with Broadway!

What else are you working on right now?

I've actually been writing my album for the past couple of years. I'm hoping to record it with my band this year! My sound is actually far more soul/pop influenced than say my rat song was but I am very excited for people to hear my new stuff!

Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical starred Wayne Brady (Django), Tituss Burgess (Remy), Kevin Chamberlin (Gusteau), Tony Award winner Andr 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), with Cori Jaskier, Talia Suskauer, Nikisha Williams, JJ Niemann, John Michael Lyles, Raymond J. Lee, and Joy Woods as the ensemble.

For more information, please visit Ratatousical.com.

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BWW Exclusive: Meet the Makers of RATATOUILLE: The TikTok Musical- Gabbi Bolt - Broadway World