Rocio Mateos
‘La La Land, the acclaimed film, got its own live concert version. Premiering on Friday, May 26th at the iconic Hollywood Bowl.
Damien Chazelle’s 2016 film is an ode to the City of Angels and its citizens that follow their artistic aspirations. So, what better place to begin the tour for the film’s live concerts, than one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
La La Land In Concert: A Live-to-Film Celebration:
The film’s Oscar-winning composer Justin Hurwitz is conducting the 100-piece symphony orchestra, choir, and jazz ensemble. The show is accompanied by the film in the background, and voice recordings with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. According to some reviews, the show is full of sound, images and sensory stimulus without getting overwhelming.
Witnessing Hurwitz’s live performance orchestra gives the spectator the opportunity to fully appreciate the details. From the composition to the performance, and its many textures and moods throughout what would be the movie itself.
The staging of the concert pays homage to the classic Hollywood musicals of the 1950s, sets that inspired the film. The production took care of such details like the illumination – how the colors of the lights would match the ones displayed in the film. – Making the structure of the Bowl part of the film – like the sky in the scene at the Griffith Observatory and how it would expand to the roof of the Bowl. Also, in the end, as the fireworks went off in the movie, they did it for real at the Bowl.
Talk about immersive experiences!
The show was held again on Saturday, May 27, and will soon go on tour across the U.S. As well as dates in the U.K., Canada, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, and Switzerland.
Singer Angela Parrish joined ‘La La Land’s concert cast
The voices accompanying the choir and orchestra are the original vocal recordings from the film. But the opening number, “Another Day of Sun,” was the evening’s only live solo, performed by the singer Angela Parrish.
Parrish is responsible for the six-minute opening number of the film, while dancer Reshma Gajjar lip-syncs the vocals in the song. The accomplishment is big for the artist, not only because the song she performs establishes the film’s theme. But also because of the resemblance between the lyrics and Parrish’s real life. “Without a nickel to my name / Hopped bus, here I came / Could be brave or just insane / We’ll have to see.”
Just like Mia, Stone’s character. Parrish comes from a small town in Kansas and years ago she decided to go to L.A. to pursue her singing career.
The artist confirmed this in an interview with KPCC Radio. Assuring that when she made that decision, she was scared, but she didn’t let that stop her. At first, things were really hard. She kept being rejected at castings while bouncing around in houses of friends or sleeping in her car.
In the meantime, she began composing and recording her own music. But it took her some years to take the step of casting for a movie. When she auditioned for ‘La La Land,’ the music supervisor thought she was fantastic; She was just what they had been looking for. Only that she came too late and the movie was already in post-production.
However, that didn’t mean it was all lost for Parrish. She recorded the song and it took her by surprise that she actually got featured right at the beginning of the acclaimed musical film. “Seeing that moment and hearing my own voice, I thought of the feeling of regret I would have had if I’d never taken that risk. That’s why I love the movie: Anyone with a dream can absolutely relate to it.”
