EXCLUSIVE: Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, creators of the viral TikTok smash Bridgerton The Musical, have signed with CAA and Kraft-Engel Management.
Since the musical duo posted the first Bridgerton-inspired number on TikTok in January, the songs and performances have notched more than 165 million views and an international fanbase. Barlow and Bear have composed, orchestrated and produced 15 original songs over the past six weeks, sharing the musical’s develop with fans as they proceed.
Barlow and Bear have been profiled in various news outlets recently, including Variety, People, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, the BBC and NPR.
Bear is a pianist, composer, singer-songwriter and a musical prodigy who made the first of seven appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at age six. She writes and performs in genres including jazz, classical, pop, film scoring and musical theater, and has performed all over the world at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl and the Montreux Jazz Festival.
In addition to accolades including ASCAP Concert Music Composer of the Year, Herb Alpert Jazz Composer of the Year and a Songwriters Hall of Fame honor, Bear released an original jazz album produced by mentor Quincy Jones and was the subject of the 2013 Emmy Award-winning documentary Girl With A Gift. Her film and television scoring work includes projects for Disney, DreamWorks, Google, Warner Bros. and Universal.
As a songwriter and performer, Barlow caught the attention of Meghan Trainor when her music went viral on TikTok. Since then, Barlow has amassed more than 2.2 million views and continues a lasting collaboration and mentorship with Trainor. Her recent single “Heartbreak Hotel” topped the iTunes Pop Chart at No. 6 and garnered more than 200,000 streams on Spotify in less than 48 hours. To date, it has 7.4 million streams on Spotify.
Though Netflix did not authorize the TikTok musical, the streamer has expressed its admiration:
Absolutely blown away by the Bridgerton musical playing out on TikTok
Standing ovation for @abigailbarloww & @nick_t_daly pic.twitter.com/hoHsDtNyAE
— Netflix (@netflix) January 13, 2021