Viral fan-made BRIDGERTON musical will release concept album

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/4/21 at 10:06am

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/201076/viral-tiktok-sensation-the-unofficial-bridgerton-musical-to-release-concept-album/

Even Lady Whistledown would be excited about this news! The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, which went viral on TikTok, is set to release a concept album on September 10. Inspired by the first season of the hit Netflix series, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical is written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear and features music and lyrics by both Barlow and Bear with vocals by Barlow and orchestrations and vocals by Bear.

Barlow first posted about the idea on TikTok in January 2021 when she answered a very important question: What if Bridgerton were a musical? Her original songs, showcasing events from the series from different characters points of view, quickly went viral. Two of the most popular songs are "Burn For You," a duet between leads Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings while on their honeymoon, and "If I Were a Man," a song for the headstrong Eloise Bridgerton.

Barlow and Bear are set to have their first live performance at England's Bicester Village on August 12. They were recently announced as part of the lineup for Darren Criss' popular outdoor music festival Elsie Fest.

The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical is now available for preorder. Get a taste of what to expect from the 15-track album by watching the original version of "If I Were a Man" below!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 9:35am

The album was released today, as well as a music video for "Burn For You" which launched the #bridgertonmusical hashtag trend on TikTok.

Link to the album: https://onerpm.link/barlowandbear

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/10/21 at 12:59pm

I wish they had Betsy Wolfe on the album. Loved her rendition of “balancing the scales” from Elsie fest. Maybe they’ll get her for official “unofficial Bridgerton musical.”

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/13/21 at 7:42pm

I like the songs themselves, but I'm not really loving Abigail Barlow's vocals. The high notes are soo breathy, which I know is specific to her style of singing, but it's just not my thing. I think I might have to wait to see if it's recorded with someone who sings in more of a musical theatre style. 

Updated On: 9/13/21 at 07:42 PM

[DaveyG]

Posted: 9/13/21 at 11:36pm

Theatretok is going crazy for this album but I just don’t get it. There’s a lack of variety in the songs that would make a 2.5 hour evening of it feel eternal. Glad people are enjoying it, but it wasn’t for me.

[Fan123]

Posted: 9/14/21 at 4:10am

Admittedly I haven't given the full album a chance yet, but from what I've listened to, the lyrics seem to be going for the most obvious way of delineating each character, without much subtext ("I'm marrying for love!", "If I were a man!"  which I find can get annoying in musical theatre songs. It might just be that the style isn't my cup of tea.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 6:41pm

https://www.tmz.com/2022/07/29/netflix-sues-bridgerton-musical-lawsuit-barlow-and-bear-kennedy-center/

According to Netflix, the musicians didn't just steal its intellectual property ... but they also lied about getting permission. In the suit, Netflix includes an advertisement that was posted for the stage production and it includes the text, "BRIDGERTON is a trademark of Netflix used with permission."

Nope. Not according to Netflix, which says it actually "vigorously objected" to Barlow & Bear's use of the show's name, characters and dialogue.

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 7:06pm

jacobsnchz14 said: "https://www.tmz.com/2022/07/29/netflix-sues-bridgerton-musical-lawsuit-barlow-and-bear-kennedy-center/

According to Netflix, the musicians didn't just steal its intellectual property ... but they also lied about getting permission. In the suit, Netflix includes an advertisement that was posted for the stage production and it includes the text, "BRIDGERTON is a trademark of Netflix used with permission."

Nope. Not according to Netflix, which says it actually "vigorously objected" to Barlow & Bear's use of the show's name, characters and dialogue."

This approach may have been innocent during the pandemic, but there's no way they could've gotten away with as much as they did so far. This prob. marks the end of all the "unauthorized" viral musicals.

[pmensky]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 7:08pm

This is unbelievable. 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 7:18pm

pmensky said: "This is unbelievable."

I think it’s shocking that this didn’t happen sooner.

[briankershawjr]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 7:20pm

This is stupid!! If Netflix did not want them to do this they had the chance to shut them down when they begun or when they started to pick up steam…

i think bc they lost membership Netflix will do anything to get money

get over your self Netflix!!

[InTheKnowEvenIfYouDontBelieve]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 7:39pm

I, as someone who is not an idiot, would have simply bought the musical a year ago if I ran Netflix. 

Updated On: 7/29/22 at 07:39 PM

[pmensky]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 7:40pm

briankershawjr said: "This is stupid!! If Netflix did not want them to do this they had the chance to shut them down when they begun or when they started to pick up steam…

i think bc they lost membership Netflix will do anything to get money

get over your self Netflix!!"

Netflix is worth tens of billion of dollars. Whatever Bear and Barlow have made from their musical is pocket change to them. 

[briankershawjr]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 9:23pm

Netflix is worth a billion dollars who lost of memberships last quarter… they lost money and want a way to get it back

 

also why has shonda rhimes sueing them ???

why hasnt the cast condone them???

Netflix is only after money they earned from the event 

[sparksatmidnight]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 9:40pm

Most companies and copyright owners are pretty lax with fanworks but draw the line at charging for said fanworks. Open a fanfic website and you will see dozens of non-owned characters getting new life, but you'll certainly bump into a lot of roadblocks if you try to sell those. I don't know why they suddenly thought they should start charging for it and Netflix would just allow it. Also, if you start letting people using trademarks for profit freely, you're getting into a case of having said trademark revoked.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 9:43pm

Netflix did offer them a license. They refused. You can read the entire lawsuit here.

Netflix is not wrong in any way for doing this. The musical breaches the line of parody and fan fiction. Netflix isn't being a bully. It's about them maintaining the rights to a work for which they own the copyright and which could generate them income and subsidiary activities for decades to come. It would set a dangerous precedent for other copyright holders if Netflix DIDN'T try to strip Barlow & Bear & co. of every cent earned from this.

Rule #1 of writing an adaptation is to secure the rights prior to writing a single note.

In any case, it's all great publicity for Barlow & Bear as songwriters and their careers will grow because of this.

Updated On: 7/29/22 at 09:43 PM

[pmensky]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 10:13pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Netflix did offer them a license. They refused.You can read the entire lawsuit here.

Netflix is not wrong in any way for doing this. The musical breaches the line of parody and fan fiction. Netflix isn't being a bully. It's about them maintaining the rights to a work for which they own the copyright and which could generate them income and subsidiary activities for decades to come.It would set a dangerous precedent for other copyright holders if Netflix DIDN'T try to strip Barlow & Bear & co. of every cent earned from this.

Rule #1 of writing an adaptation is to secure the rights prior to writing a single note.

In any case, it's all great publicity for Barlow & Bear as songwriters and their careers will grow because of this."

Yes, to be clear, Netflix offered them a licensing deal this past week before the Kennedy Center concert so that everyone could move forward legally, but Barlow and Bear refused. Netflix did not offer them a licensing deal before they started writing the musical, and in fact, they refused to give permission. So, yeah, it’s not surprising that Netflix is suing. 

[themick2]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 10:37pm

Barlow and Bear don't sound like very smart people. 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 10:49pm

This is pretty clearly not fair use, unlike the multitudes of parody musicals out there. Netflix probably tolerated it so far as it remained a fun Tiktok thing, but once Barlow & Bear et al decided to make it a profitable enterprise, then that brings in a mess of issues. 
 

Frankly, it’s wild to me that nobody working with Bear and Barlow told them to slow their roll here and get the appropriate rights. 

Updated On: 7/29/22 at 10:49 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/29/22 at 11:44pm

Kad said: "Frankly, it’s wild to me that nobody working with Bear and Barlow told them to slow their roll here and get the appropriate rights."

That's the weirdest thing about all this. They're repped by CAA (Joe Machota) and Kraft Engel Management –– among the most knowledgeable reps in this biz. So there's obviously SOME sort of strategy behind all this (and there was much legal communication from Netflix), I just can't wrap my head around what the method to this madness is.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/30/22 at 10:48pm

Shonda Rhimes has released a statement:

“What started as a fun celebration by Barlow & Bear on social media has turned into the blatant taking of intellectual property solely for Barlow & Bear’s financial benefit. This property was created by Julia Quinn and brought to life on screen through the hard work of countless individuals. Just as Barlow & Bear would not allow others to appropriate their IP for profit, Netflix cannot stand by and allow Barlow & Bear to do the same with ‘Bridgerton.'”

[DaveyG]

Posted: 7/30/22 at 11:49pm

And from Julia Quinn - the actual author of Bridgerton:

Julia Quinn Statement: 

 “Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are wildly talented, and I was flattered and delighted when they began composing Bridgerton songs and sharing with other fans on TikTok. There is a difference, however, between composing on TikTok and recording and performing for commercial gain. I would hope that Barlow & Bear, who share my position as independent creative professionals, understand the need to protect other professionals’ intellectual property, including the characters and stories I created in the Bridgerton novels over twenty years ago.” -Julia Quinn 

[pmensky]

Posted: 7/31/22 at 1:01am

I realize that people involved with lawsuits are often instructed not to make public statements, but their lawyer should at least release a statement indicating that they believe they are acting within the law and asserting that they are prepared to defend their choices. These statements from Rhimes and Quinn are damaging to B&B. They are starting to look like impudent, bumbling thieves.

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 7/31/22 at 1:55am

pmensky said: "I realize that people involved with lawsuits are often instructed not to make public statements, but their lawyer should at least release a statement indicating that they believe they are acting within the law and asserting that they are prepared to defend their choices. These statements from Rhimes and Quinn are damaging to B&B. They are starting to look like impudent, bumbling thieves."

Maybe they are impudent and bumbling. The choices they made here don't exactly paint them as the most logically thinking people. 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/22 at 9:25am

Having the statements from Rhimes and Quinn is very helpful to Netflix. The knee jerk reaction to this is “big corporation with recent publicity issues is taking it out on small time artists.” Their statements make it clear it’s happening with their support as creators.