6.3 La La Land!

The Gospel of Musical Theatre

“A bit of madness is key to give us new colors to see.”

Today, we continue our Summer Movie Happy Hour Fizzy Summer Tour... thing... as we talk about 2016’s contemporary take on the classic film musicals of the 1940s, 50s and 60s: LaLa Land.

2016 feels like a La La Land ago. How does this film hold up almost a decade later?

We talk about:

• "Another Day of Sun" – A great opening number that sets up the world of LaLa Land (literally Los Angeles – but in the context of the election that took place in 2016, the year this film was released, what else might LaLa Land mean?)
• "Start a Fire" – John Legend’s one contribution to the soundtrack is (maybe?) the best song in the film – and gives us a different perspective on the Jazz Question, which in this film is really a question of race.
• "The Fools Who Dream" – The moment that wins Emma Stone an Academy Award – her audition song (the eleven o’clock number!) love-letter toast to creatives who refuse to compromise.

You’ll hear Emma Stone, John Legend, and Ryan Gosling singing the Pasek/Patel score from the 2016 film soundtrack.

Continue the conversation with us on Instagram (@gospelofmt).