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Finally watching #RatatouilleMusical. There is a lot to take in, as others have pointed out: the lyrics, the racial dynamics of the cast, the homemade aesthetic. For me, it's furthering my rumination on what streaming theatre reveals - or changes - about relationships.
"She Kills Monsters" at the University of Maryland had me thinking about how characters and actors relate to each other. Perform to the camera as if it's a person? Reach "across" from one Zoom box to another? How do we recreate real space on screen?
"The Wolves" at Philadelphia Theatre Company had me thinking about the audience. What plays really change how we understand and relate to characters when put on screen? In what ways can Zoom theatre be almost immersive (considering we're already immersed in Zoom as it is)?
Unsurprisingly, #RatatouilleMusical has me thinking about relationships between creators - particularly between the TikTokers who adapted this piece in the first place and the Names that have given it polish. Is it a model or a one-off?
In some ways, pursuing it as a model could generate more opportunities and further flatten out the power structure of traditional, high-dollar theatre. That, in turn, *could* be used to address longstanding in equalities. If nothing else, maybe theatre gets a bit more "hip."
On the other hand, despite Disney's blessing, it speaks to the already vast reach of the House of Mouse and almost certainly creates opportunities for further monetization, whether by them or Broadway elites. Also, there's no guarantee that it addresses long-standing inequities.
It's too soon to say "new model" or "one-off." But it's not too soon to think about how #RatatouilleMusical and other Theatre Events in the Age of Streaming changes - adjusts, modulates, revises - relationships at a more fundamental level.
