La La Land : A Musical for the Ages !

Sometimes a film may just remind you of something you have not thought of in a long, long time.
The Damien Chazelle film LA LA LAND, for me, is such a film where I am reminded of those musicals of the late 1940s and 1950s, where entertainment was more valid than realism in film.

The Poster Sheet for LA LA LAND

Currently nominated for 14 Academy Award categories, the wondrous innocence and easy happiness in this film seems to have spoken to other people as well. What spoke to me about the film was that there may be a moment in which you (and also other people) can step out of your moment to reflect with song on the situation in an emotionally charged way, while on the other spectrum hope and optimism prevail in the daily humdrum routine of your boring life. I myself am no longer a young man but I still have hopes. The main characters in this film are pretty young but no less suffering from situations in their lives they seem to be unable to rise above. Until something extraordinary happens. A chance meeting of people, who may not be lifetime partners but who can instill in one another the drive to continue and finally succeed, where at first you failed.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

While I was watching this film, the experience of watching such whimsical musicals reminded me of having seen films like SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, THE BAND WAGON and HIGH SOCIETY, when I was much younger, in years where realism wasn't so important in films. After all, you don't often see people on the streets burst out in song and dance all of a sudden. So if this may not be your thing, that's okay. Skip then, but if a fun film about longing, wanting and inspiring one another to do what is needed to get there, may be your thing, give it a shot. I was surprised myself. I loved it.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are wonderful to watch in the film. Gosling has a little bit of a young Fred Astaire in himself, even though perhaps not as a dancer but in spirit, but Emma Stone reminded me of Audrey Hepburn and other stars like that. The music by Justin Hurwitz is quite good, too, although it will be interesting to see if the nomination for Best Original Score will be rewarded with an Oscar, surrounded as it is by dramatic scores, not of the same category, really. 

LA LA LAND is a wonderful date movie. It is a bit long at 128 minutes but it is never boring.

Try it out if you like.  

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR : AN ICONIC MOMENT OF BIBLICAL HISTORY

An Iconic Moment in the Norman Jewison film

Jesus Christ Superstar, the musical was long considered controversial because of the modernistic way in which the character in the Jesus story were display and because of how the story was told in popular rock music. The music was written by a young Andrew Lloyd Webber (later famous for EVITA, CATS and many other shows) and the lyrics were by Tim Rice. The musical itself started at first as a concept album but the success of this album once released led to a musical on the stage that was equally controversial, yet highly successful.

Ted Neeley as Jesus Christ in the film

One member of the original cast introduced film director Norman Jewison to the material and Jewison rewrote the story with Melvyn Bragg for the film, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, that hit the screens in 1973 to high acclaim. The actors in the film were mostly actors from the Broadway show, with Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman in the roles of Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene. The film remains to this day a musical gem that also happens to bring one of the most effective versions of the Jesus Christ story to the screen, thanks to wonderful performances of the above mentioned actors and phenomenally effective use of original locations (the film was shot in Israel) and modern production design.

Press photos of Ted Neeley in the current show

For a musical on a stage, the locations as seen in the film have to be simulated in inventive ways and for the current musical show touring around Europe now, the production design is both inventive and innovative as modern means are used in combination with sparseness in very effective ways: a rotating podium base allows the orchestra to be moved about to give the actors more room to play with or more background to play on while on the other side of the stage construction frames are used to have the actors go about their ways. I had the opportunity to see this show this past Sunday, 8 January 2017 at the World Forum Theatre in The Hague, The Netherlands and while now, more than 40 years after the show was first performed, most of the cast has been replaced many times by new actors, one name still stands out: TED NEELEY, who is still performing the role of Jesus Christ as he did in the film. And he is SUPERB, even at his age of 73 years.

Ted Neeley hitting a high note on stage : Amazing !!!!

I don't need to say anything about the story (spoiler: the poor guy dies in the end!). The only thing that is different is in how it is told and for this show the means that are used as so modern that Herod is played as a copycat of ALI G (as performed by Sascha Baron Cohen) while a photo montage is used to convey human anguish when Jesus question his father, the Lord, why he needs to face his own death in such a gruesome way. And this photo montage features pictures of modern tragedies, from pictures of the second World War to Viet Nam, to Cambodia, the assassinations of Ghandi, JFK, Martin Luther King, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center of 9-11, even going up so far as the refugee tragedy of the infant boy that drowned last year trying to cross the Mediterranean, only to end up dead, washed up on a beach, face in the mud. All of these pictures add to the impact of the story as Jesus faces his own death.

Ted Neeley as Jesus Christ in the show

Ted Neeley, who has been performing the role of Jesus in several revivals of the show over the years, has played this role for many years now and although he looks a little older now, he still has an amazing vocal range. Seeing his in this show is a wonderful experience and even if only for him, (although it must certainly be said that the rest of the young cast is EXCELLENT as well), going to this wonderful show is WELL WORTH IT !

"Thank you."

The show has just finished its tour in The Hague and is now moving to Antwerp. Later it will be moving to Groningen and it will finish its tour in Amsterdam. Ted Neeley has said this will be his last tour, but maybe, just maybe you can convince him to return once more in the role that has become his most iconic role ever :

   

Thank you, Mr. Neeley for a wonderful show !!!