All That Musical

 

All That Musical

 

                                                                 By Lee Hyon-soo

 

 

A musical is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. Successful musicals have well-developed characters and song-and-dance numbers integrated into the story. Musicals are popular because they are fun entertainment and people want to be entertained.

 

I am passionately fond of musicals. I have seen countless musicals, but I have not had the good fortune to see many musicals live on stage. Instead, most of the musicals that I have watched were movie versions (that is, musical films) of stage musicals. I watched them in the theater or on TV.

 

“La La Land” is the most talked-about musical these days. I recently watched it in a theater in my neighborhood. Not only did it receive critical acclaim but it landed 14 Academy Awards nominations and won Oscars on February 26, 2017 for best director, leading actress, production design, original score, original song and cenematography.

 

“La La Land” is an American romantic musical film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. Unlike many other popular musical films, “La La Land” is not an adaptation of a stage production. It was created specifically for film.

 

What does “La La Land” mean? According to Merriam-Webster, it is the nickname for Los Angeles and also refers to a euphoric dreamlike mental state detached from the harsher realities of life.

 

The movie opens with a spectacular dance scene in which over 100 dancers participate. It takes place on a highway in Los Angeles. As a matter of fact, Los Angeles was the primary setting for the film.

 

For those of you who have not yet seen this movie, here is a synopsis. “La La Land” is about the struggles and love of two young people. They are Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a starving jazz pianist. Mia, a college dropout, works as a barista in a coffee shop on a studio lot in Hollywood. She meets Sebastian who plays piano in a jazz bar, while dreaming of opening his own jazz club one day. They fall in love and move in together.

 

After yet another audition has gone wrong, Mia writes and performs a personal single-actress play. But only a few people come to see it. Realizing that her six years of effort have come to nothing, she gives up her aspirations and moves back home in Boulder City, Nevada.

 

Sebastian receives a phone call from a casting director who invites Mia to a film audition. He drives to Boulder City and persuades Mia to give it one last shot. At the audition she is asked to tell a story. Instead, Mia sings about her aunt who inspired her to pursue acting.

 

In the meantime, Sebastian gives up the piano and joins a popular band as the keyboard player so that he can have a steady source of income. Mia feels that he is selling out. They cannot get over their differences and break up.

 

Five years elapse while they are out of touch with each other. Now Mia is a successful actress, married with a young daughter. She goes out for a walk one night with her husband. They come across a jazz bar which carries a logo designed by Mia. on the off-chance that the bar is owned by Sebastian, they walk in and see Sebastian performing with his band. Sebastian spots Mia in the crowd and plays their love theme. After the song ends, Mia shares one last look with Sebastian and exits. 

 

An anonymous commentator had this to say: “La La Land reintroduced the traditional jazz style of song numbers with influences from the Golden Age of Hollywood and French musicals while incorporating a contemporary/modern take on the story and characters with balances in fantasy numbers and grounded reality.”  

 

 

The Korea Times

March 2017