Meet the Choreographic Minds Behind the "Bridgerton" TikTok Musical
ICYMI, TikTok is taking over Broadway. Not literally—you shouldn’t expect to see dancers on the Great White Way doing the Renegade or the Woah anytime soon. But the app has proven to be an amazing place for musical concepts to find their footing. This first proved true with #Ratatousical, the TikTok musical inspired by the Disney classic Ratatouille.
This time around, TikTok creatives are finding creative #inspo from the Regency-era Netflix hit, “Bridgerton.” (If you haven’t watched it yet, think Pride and Prejudice meets “Gossip Girl” meets Shonda Rhimes. Also, it involves an instrumental cover of “thank u, next.”) The “Bridgerton” musical on TikTok all began when songwriter Abigail Barlow shared an original song based on the perspective of Daphne Bridgerton, the series’ leading lady.
Today, #BridgertonMusical has more than 153 million views on TikTok, with countless users performing covers of and riffing on Barlow’s original songs. Barlow and co-creator Emily Bear even recently announced they would be creating a concept album.
But the most exciting news (at least for us)? There is plenty of dancing to go along with all of that music. Dance Spirit had the chance to catch up with Lea Tucker and Emry Wride, the choreographic minds behind the “Bridgerton” musical. Read on to find out how they got into the TikTok-verse, how they got interested in “Bridgerton,” and who they would cast in the musical, if given the chance.
Dance Spirit: How did you first get involved with the “Bridgerton” musical on TikTok?
Lea Tucker: About a month and a half ago, I came across a video of Abigail saying “What if ‘Bridgerton’ was a musical?” I had just finished watching “Bridgerton” on Netflix, so I was immediately hooked on the idea. That same day, Emry and I were at the studio choreographing, and posted our first video that night.
Emry Wride: Honestly, when Lea first called me, I hadn’t even seen “Bridgerton.” But as soon as I heard the music, I was totally intrigued. So after we filmed the first video, I went back and actually watched “Bridgerton,” and of course I was immediately obsessed.
DS: When did your videos start getting more attention?
LT: Our first video did pretty well—around 7 thousand views. And for just having started our page, that felt pretty good. So we kept making videos. And then our video for “If I Were a Man,” the song about Eloise Bridgerton, went totally crazy. It got 1.5 million views, and it happened so quickly!
DS: As your vides got more popular, was there more pressure?
LT: There was so much pressure. The video we did before “If I Were a Man” was actually “Burn for You,” and that one had done really well. We were filming “If I Were a Man,” and I remember I was freaking out. I was so sure we wouldn’t be able to top “Burn for You.” But then we posted the video for “If I Were a Man,” and the response was crazy. That was a good lesson for us: Don’t be afraid to share something, no matter what the outcome might be.
@elchoreography Burn For You🔥 @dukerands @abigailbarlowww @emilythebear @nick_t_daly ##bridgertonmusical ##bridgertonnetflix ##bridgerton ##bridgertontiktok ##fyp
DS: You’ve gotten a ton of great responses on social media. Whose were you most excited to see?
EW: I was most excited when the songwriters of the musical, Abigail and Emily, responded to us. They’re the ones who first inspired us. And now they both send us voice recordings and videos, and it’s so great to have that personal relationship with them. It really does feel like we’re all in this together.
DS: That’s really cool, that you’re collaborating directly with them!
LT: They’ve been so supportive and kind. And, actually, Abigail messaged us—it turns out she was a competitive dancer for 10 years, so she’s been loving all of our videos. She appreciates the choreography so much because she grew up dancing. She even sent us videos of her performing at a dance competition!
It’s been really cool to have their support, because they’re such geniuses when it comes to writing these songs. It’s been really motivating to us.
DS: Do you think the “Bridgerton” musical will be produced like #Ratatousical?
LT: I really hope they do something like that. Abigail and Emily recently announced that they’re going to release a concept album, and I think it would be so cool to somehow incorporate dance as a visual aspect. I think that would take it to the next level.
@abigailbarlowww Reposting this INCREDIBLE CHOREOGRAPHY BY @elchoreography because WHATTT 🥺😭😭😭 ##bridgertonmusical
DS: If you could cast any dancers, who would you pick?
LT: We love Ricky Ubeda—he’s probably been our biggest inspiration. He’d be perfect for the more lyrical, contemporary dances, because that’s kind of how he started. But now he’s on Broadway, and we love that he’s been able to take his technical, contemporary training and transform into this amazing Broadway performer.
EW: Ricky, for sure, and Melanie Moore. They’re both so talented. Melanie would be a perfect Daphne—her dancing is so delicate. Also, Gaby Diaz would be such a good Eloise, because her dancing has that spunk and fire.
DS: Are there any lessons you’ve learned from working on the “Bridgerton” choreography?
EW: The biggest thing we’ve learned is that you should always be proud of the art you’re producing, whether or not people “like” it or “share” it. If you like it, and it makes you happy, you should keep creating. We learned to love the work we create, and if we can make even one person happy right now, during this difficult time, that’s even better.
