USA TODAY International Edition
SONG & DANCE REVIVAL
‘ La La Land’ & ‘ Star’ put swing into modern musicals
Theater geeks have plenty of reasons to sing this winter.
While there has been no shortage of Broadway adaptations ( Into the Woods, Les Misérables) and “jukebox” musicals ( Pitch Perfect, Glee) this decade, rarely have so many projects with original songs hoofed it to the screen at once. Rachel Bloom’s musical dark comedy Crazy Ex- Girlfriend returned to CW in October, and Fox’s showbiz drama Star, created by Empire’s Lee Daniels, and Oscar hopeful La La Land are set to launch this month.
La La Land ( in theaters Friday in New York and Los Angeles, expands to additional cities Dec. 16) stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as young lovers struggling to achieve their artistic dreams in present- day L. A. Its joyous songand- dance numbers were co- written by Justin Hurwitz, who tips his hat to old Hollywood musicals including An American In Paris and West Side Story.
The biggest challenge was, “How can you be inspired by all these great things that you love, and try to do something new that feels modern and like its own thing?” Hurwitz says. Director Damien Chazelle “and I are students of these older movies and musicals, but I was personally not trying to watch those movies or listen to ( their songs). I didn’t want to be emulating them.”
On Crazy Ex- Girlfriend ( Fridays, 9 p. m. ET/ PT), sending up classic musicals and music videos is one of the primary goals of Bloom, who writes and stars as a lovesick lawyer who follows her ex to California. So far in Season 2, she has lovingly — and raunchily — spoofed the Spice Girls ( Friendtopia), Singin’ in the Rain ( We Tapped That A - - ), Marilyn Monroe ( The Math of Love Triangles) and R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet ( Stuck in the Bathroom).
Some numbers are performed by characters who break into song midscene; others are shown as fantasy sequences or inner monologues. Songwriting begins two weeks before an episode films, during which Bloom and her team go through multiple drafts, learn choreography, record the songs and stage them.
“From a writing perspective, the hardest thing to nail is the chorus of the song: What’s the joke?” Bloom says. “You’re trying to do songs that are earned from the moment and from the character, but they also have to be co- medic. And just filming these musical numbers within a sevenday network ( shooting schedule) is ambitious. It’s hard.”
It’s a reality Daniels knows well from his soapy hip- hop drama Empire ( Fox, Wednesdays, 9 p. m. ET/ PT), whose original music in Season 3 has been overseen by famed songwriters Rodney Jenkins and Ester Dean.
With Star ( premiering Dec. 14, 9 p. m. ET/ PT), Daniels wanted a soundtrack “completely different” from Empire’s. “Music today is so synthesized and overproduced. I wanted it to sound like when I grew up, where the imperfections made them perfection.”
To accomplish that, he hired Grammy- winning songwriter Johntá Austin to supervise the pop- and R& B- leaning music, performed by the fictitious aspiring girl group at the series’ heart. Tonally, Daniels compares the drama to Dreamgirls and Valley of the Dolls and believes it has the key ingredient of every successful modern musical: honest, multifaceted characters.
“You have to see yourself in one of these girls,” he says. “Hopefully, ( viewers) will.”