The Contemporary Musical Transformed: The Influence of ‘La La Land’
When La La Land premiered in 2016, it captured the world’s imagination with vibrant color, infectious jazz, and bittersweet romance. While its nostalgia for Hollywood’s golden era was apparent, the film also made a substantial contribution to the evolution of the modern musical. Beyond aesthetic flourishes and star power, La La Land introduced bold structural, thematic, and technical innovations that impacted both filmmakers and audiences.
Reviving the Song-and-Dance Tradition
Musicals had gradually retreated from mainstream cinema, with few breaking through between the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. La La Land reignited public appetite for the genre by embracing classic tropes—spontaneous street performances, fantasy sequences, and ensemble numbers. The film’s opening, “Another Day of Sun,” immediately conjured memories of earlier musical spectacles with its sweeping camera movement across a Los Angeles freeway. However, director Damien Chazelle modernized the form with single-take choreography, integrating the bustle of contemporary city life rather than confining action to sound stages. This urban realism, tied intricately to the music, made song-and-dance central not merely as spectacle but as a language for character expression.
A Different Type of Musical Storytelling
Rather than following a purely optimistic trajectory, La La Land explored ambition, compromise, and the bittersweet cost of dreams. The narrative structure upends expectations: while it delivers moments of euphoric joy, the film culminates in an alternative-reality montage, facing the heartbreak of what could have been. By doing so, Chazelle challenged the tidy resolutions of classic musicals, infusing contemporary emotional complexity. Critics and audiences alike noted how numbers like “City of Stars” or “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” deepen the narrative rather than serving as interludes, merging plot with music emotionally and thematically.
Narration through Imagery and Filmic Methods
La La Land elevated its storytelling through distinctive visual language. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren employed bold primary colors reminiscent of Technicolor films, but harnessed digital technology and innovative lighting to evoke mood and memory. The film’s use of long takes in dance sequences, practical sets on location, and homage-laden visual cues expanded the musical idiom for a new generation. For instance, the planetarium dance is both a tribute to the fantasy ballets of Vincente Minnelli and a contemporary expression of limitless aspiration. Such sequences benefit from digital effects not as spectacle, but as tools to heighten emotion.
The Role of Music and Sound in Character Development
Composer Justin Hurwitz and lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a soundscape that pays respect to jazz and traditional show tunes while incorporating contemporary music trends. The music’s diegetic and non-diegetic functions often blur: characters perform both for diegetic audiences (within the film) and for themselves, with layered implications for their psychological states. For example, Mia’s audition piece transforms from narrative exposition to personal catharsis, allowing the audience an intimate window into her internal conflict. Sebastian’s immersion in jazz reflects the tension between preservation and innovation, paralleling the film’s own genre-blending ethos.
Social and Cultural Impact
La La Land resonated with audiences beyond film enthusiasts, becoming a worldwide cultural icon. Its box office success—grossing over $440 million internationally—and its dominance in awards, winning six Academy Awards, marked a resurgence for original musicals within the mainstream. Set in the diverse city of Los Angeles, featuring a globally varied supporting cast and highlighting immigrant aspirations, it emerged as a universal narrative while portraying distinctly American dreams. In educational and community theater, the film’s impact is visible in the increasing array of modern musicals with original soundtracks, movement-focused staging, and lifelike character development.
Legacy: Inspiring a New Creative Wave
Since La La Land, several musicals have been released targeting comparable artistic and commercial success, including The Greatest Showman, Mary Poppins Returns, and In the Heights. Streaming services have also started funding musical productions, while prominent award organizations have shown greater openness to the genre. Experts and reviewers observe that the movie’s ability to merge nostalgia with innovation established a benchmark, showing that musicals can thrive in the market while maintaining artistic goals and modern significance.
A Reflective Synthesis
La La Land made a significant impact on the language and heritage of contemporary musicals. Its technical brilliance, genuine emotion, and openness to merging the classic with the contemporary established it as a standard for creativity in a genre historically characterized by tradition. Instead of simply honoring bygone eras, the movie broadened the musical’s lexicon for an evolving media environment—encouraging both creators and viewers to explore once again the enchantment and significance of narratives conveyed through music and dance.
