The story of how the TikTok Ratatouille musical came together already feels like a Disney movie: Inspiration came from the least likely of places, scrappy outsiders with the odds against them banded together to achieve a dream, and all of it was done via the power of song. To add yet another perfectly Broadway-worthy story beat to the mythos of the little social media musical that could, Mean Girls’ Ashley Park got a literal sign from the universe before she was asked to play Colette in the Actors Fund benefit production.
On January 1, a full production of the musical debuted on the Internet with A-list Broadway talent, including Tituss Burgess, André de Shields, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kevin Chamberlin, and Adam Lambert. On the virtual red carpet, Park held a large poster up to the camera, backwards. “I’m such a believer in signs, manifestations, signs from the universe. A couple weeks ago, I was walking in the Upper West Side past a restaurant that was closing down, and I was like, that’s so sad. And I found this on the street,†she says. “This is a couple days before they asked me to be part of this Ratatouille experience. And for some reason, I was like, I’m going to take it home.†At this point, Park turns the poster around to reveal a gloriously tacky art print of a Botero-esque chubby French chef, tuque and everything. “It’s Gusteau!†The Ratatousical enjoys an extremely limited run until January 4.