If you’ve been on TikTok in the past two months, you have definitely seen and/or heard of Bridgerton: The TikTok Musical. After the super-popular show Bridgerton premiered on Netflix in December, rumors started spreading on TikTok that there was to be a musical inspired by the show. Two talented creators, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, started writing the musical, and it has spread like wildfire. It’s a miracle if you can click on the app and not see a cover of one of their twelve original songs. Other creators have also jumped on the bandwagon, writing their own original songs, choreographing dance numbers, making costumes, drawing playbills, creating set designs and submitting them all via TikTok.
For those that haven’t watched the show, Bridgerton is based off of the novels by Julia Quinn and centers on the Briderton family. The main conflict is between Daphne, the oldest Bridgerton daughter, and Simon, Duke of Hastings. As the start of the social season ensues, the families involved try to navigate new love, new experiences, and new feelings.
Abigail, a 22-year-old singer/songwriter is the one who came up with the idea. Her first video, a song inspired by Daphne Bridgerton, has over 1 million views. There are over 135 million views on the #bridgertonmusical hashtag alone! Since then, she has enlisted her writing partner, 19-year-old Emily, to help write and orchestrate the rest of the songs. Some of them include a passionate duet between Simon and Daphne, an upbeat song for Eloise, a spicy solo for Sienna, and an emotional lament for Violet Bridgerton.
With all of the attention the musical has been getting on the app, it was inevitable that Broadway and West End stars would get in on the project, too. Well-known actors such as Carrie Hope Fletcher (Heathers, Les Miserables, Cinderella) and Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill) have covered some of Barlow and Bear’s songs. As of right now, there are seven rough demos of the songs on their joint website, Barlow and Bear. The songs are not available on Spotify yet, but you can listen to the rough demos now! The duo has also recently released Barlow and Bear merchandise that is linked on their website.
These two women are definitely ones to watch. They have created a whole new way to write a musical and displaying the whole process on social media for everyone to see. With the original idea starting on TikTok, Abigail and Emily have created a new way for musicals to be made. By opening up the communication between creators and fans, the songs that they are writing have a little piece of everyone in them.