La La Land: Musical Analysis

City of Stars
A Review of the Musical La La Land

The movie musical “La La Land,” which was released in December of 2016, is a film which grabbed the attention of critics and casual moviegoers alike. Although some criticize it for its musical inaccuracies, most can agree that the stunning cinematography and emotionally consuming plotline make up for its technical shortcomings. The film was also successful at alluding to classics such as Singin’ in the Rain and West Side Story without seeming unoriginal. Rather, it paid homage to past works while establishing itself as a new one. Since it is safe to assume that those who strongly oppose musicals would not be a fan of “La La Land” regardless of how well it was executed, I will review it from

Both had the acting experience necessary, as well as the chemistry, which was also seen in the film “Crazy Stupid Love” where they were love interests. Due to their previous success as an on-screen couple, it’s no surprise that the duo was met with praise in “La La Land.” Gosling and Stone won the Golden Globes for best actor and actress, Stone also won the Oscar, and both were nominated for countless other awards. They also put months of work into developing their skills to properly play their roles. Gosling already had experience with the piano, but he couldn’t perform anywhere near the level he would need to as Sebastian. He worked with a teacher two hours a day, five days a week, for three months and learned the songs for the movie by rote. Both of the leads also spent time on their dancing so that they could execute the few breakout dance scenes in the musical. These actors definitely put in the work to grow beyond the talents they already had, so to the casual musical lover I would say they did a wonderful job at portraying the characters and striving to

The composer, Justin Herwitz, arranged several memorable themes which people could leave the theater humming, however, there were less than most musicals. In fact, excluding reprises and instrumentals, the film only had six original songs. It’s possible that this shortage of musical numbers actually aided the film’s success because it allowed more time for plot development. Musical lovers also complain that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's musical performances left something to be desired. I must admit, when I first heard the two sing “A Lovely Night,” I was a little underwhelmed. Even Emma Stone admits that singing is her weakness. Prior to being in “La La Land” Emma was in a broadway production of Cabaret, where she played Sally Bowles. In an interview to Hello! Magazine, she explained that her character was, “a third rate singer in a second-rate nightclub.” So when her voice was gone or she struggled to perform, it made sense for the character. Ryan Gosling also had some previous singing experience as a child star and in a former band where he was the lead vocalist. However, to many people, this was not enough for him to be chosen for a role with so much potential. As Michelle Mastrianni puts it in her article about the film, “If La La Land wanted to be a musical, it would be hard to argue that it wouldn’t have benefited from stronger voices.” I think that this statement is really undebatable,