‘We’re figuring out cool ways of storytelling’: how TikTok is changing the way we watch musicals
Share:
Jorge Rivera-Herrans’s musical sensation Epic is just one of a series of works making a splash on the online platform. When Jorge Rivera-Herrans released part of Epic: the Musical last Christmas, he managed to push Taylor Swift off the top of the US iTunes album charts. So there is a lot at stake when the final instalment of his musical retelling of the Odyssey is released on Christmas Day.
![[James Tapper]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2024/10/24/James_Tapper.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Rivera-Herrans’s project has already been an extraordinary success, with more monthly listeners on Spotify (1.6m) than veterans such as Morrissey, Liam Gallagher, or the Sex Pistols, and 119m plays on the platform in the past 28 days alone. “I wanted to have sword fights and the ocean, and I wanted to have gods and monsters, and spells and love and lust and revenge,” he told the Observer. “I want people to have this feeling of wonder, that people can watch it and feel like a child again.”.
![[Jorge Rivera-Herrans sitting among rocks nestling a big sword.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4696ab19aadbf76e819a3e6948d19fc4901983bd/0_247_5049_3030/master/5049.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Epic is a musical, but not a theatre production. At least, not yet. It is a 40-track concept album with Rivera-Herrans singing the part of Odysseus on his 10-year voyage home to Ithaca after the siege of Troy, with each step released on TikTok. Epic feeds two obsessions of teenagers at the vanguard of generation Alpha: Greek mythology and fan participation.
![[Jorge Rivera-Herrans]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/01405d8c8446207f4a3c999b8115d33f799b653f/0_36_1332_799/master/1332.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Rivera-Herrans began writing and recording in his bedroom studio, later building a soundproofed vocal booth with his father. While most artists are determined not to risk spoiling their magic by revealing creative secrets, Rivera-Herrans is the opposite. He has shared everything from song motifs to orchestration choices and the audition process.
