Daniel J. Mertzlufft, Ratatouille TikTok Musical

Daniel J. Mertzlufft (@danieljmertzlufft) joins 2Old4TikTok this week! Dena and Melissa start the show talking about how excited they were to interview Daniel about his work on all the famous viral TikTok Musicals. They gush over him gushing about Alan Menken and “Beauty and the Beast.” TikTok celebrities truly are just like us. 

Daniel J. Mertzlufft Interview ~4:40

Daniel tells us about his background in music, education, and science. He reveals how he first learned about TikTok from Luca Padovan at a theater festival. The first videos he liked were duets with accompanists to songs like “Defying Gravity.” We hear about how the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” musical was his first big hit on TikTok. Then he tells us about his next viral sensation, the Grocery Store Musical, and what happened when that hit Twitter. 

Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical ~16:15

Rocky Paterra (@rockysroad, songwriter of “I’m an Accountant”) tagged Daniel in the original Ratatouille TikTok video by Emily Jacobsen (@e_jaccs). Then Daniel called upon inspiration from “The Little Mermaid” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” to create his version. His friend Cori Jaskier provided the female vocals. We hear more about the rise of the Ratatouille Musical, the coverage from Vulture, Buzzfeed, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times, the first statement from Disney, and the snowball of press leading up to his James Corden Thanksgiving appearance. He describes getting the call to create a benefit concert in less than a month and the work that ensued. Rehearsing with Kevin Chamberlin (@chamberlin_kevin), André De Shields, and Mary Testa. He tells us about his appearance on “Good Morning America” and “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”

Daniel’s For You Page ~34:20

Daniel is deep into Woodchuck and Sea Shanty TikTok currently. He gushes over his love for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and “Beauty and the Beast.” He’s mostly on Musical Theater TikTok, Gay TikTok, Absurd Deep TikTok, and keeps seeing videos of the audio snippet of Jessie J singing “Night.” 

Broadway Stars on TikTok ~45:20

Dena mentions some of her favorite Broadway stars on TikTok like Tyler Warwick

(@tyler_warwick), Broadway Bob (@broadwaybob), and Laura Bell Bundy (@laurabellbundy) from the “Legally Blonde” musical. Daniel tells us a hilarious anecdote about playing Emmett in college. Some of his favorites are Kevin Chamberlin (@chamberlin_kevin), Scott Alan (@scottalanmusic), and Natalie Weiss (@thenatalieweiss). Besides musical theater stars, he likes Gabe Esco (@gabesco). But has no idea who the Straight TikTok stars are—is her name Allison Rae?

Lightning Round ~51:10

Daniel reveals his favorite TikTok Trends: Ratatouille (obviously), “Oh, she passed away, okay,” “Native New Yorker,” and the Harry Potter TikTok dance parodies. Least favorite trends are anything on Straight TikTok. Favorite musical: Rent. Advice for TikTok creators. He’d fill his Hype House with either The Gays of LA (Neil Patrick Harris), Jacob Collier (@jacobcollier), or the entire Ratatouille Musical team. The Broadway actor he’d most want to star in one of his shows is Andrew Barth Feldman (@andrewbfeldman_), Wayne Brady (@waynebrady), or Brendon Urie. He spills the tea on the Patti LuPone miscommunication on “The Late Late Show.” The craziest idea he’s ever had for a musical was with the Ratatouille team coming up with ideas for a “Breaking Bad” musical. The Saul Goodman song would have some real “The Music Man” vibes. Then we ask him to come up with a jingle for 2 Old 4 TikTok! 

Find TikTok videos from all the creators we mention on our blog (2Old4TikTok.com) and Instagram (@2old4tiktokpod).