"La La Land" is getting its overture back.
An instrumental overture that was cut from the hit musical film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone will be added back in for a touring concert show that kicks off this month at the Hollywood Bowl.
Composer Justin Hurwitz said it's one of two new pieces of music that fans of the film will get to hear in "La La Land In Concert: A Live-to-Film Celebration." The overture was written into writer-director Damien Chazelle's initial script and was the first piece of music Hurwitz created for the movie. It was cut after test screenings so the film could open with the jubilant "Another Day of Sun," featuring dancers atop cars stuck on a Los Angeles freeway.
Hurwitz said early versions of the film included the overture and then "Another Day of Sun," which was two big music pieces at the beginning of the movie. "We knew one of them had to go," he said.
A version that included the overture as the first number was screened for months before the filmmakers decided the elaborate dance number should open the film.
"Losing one of them was very difficult," the composer said.
Hurwitz said audiences would also hear an additional new piece of music – which joins together several key melodies – at the start of the second half of the show. Hurwitz, who won two Academy Awards for his work on the movie's music, is conducting the live shows May 26 and May 27 at the Hollywood Bowl. More than 50 performances will follow in the U.S. and internationally.
The show will include a 100-piece symphony orchestra, choir and jazz ensemble, along with the film's original vocal recordings from Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and John Legend. The movie will play along while the musicians perform.
"There's a lot of melody spread across the orchestra – that's kind of the way I arrange. So to get to see all of those wind players and brass players really carry melodies and carry real musical moments of the score, it's something that I had the pleasure of seeing in the studio, and I'm excited for people to see it live," Hurwitz said.
It may not be the only live performance in "La La Land's" future. Producer Jordan Horowitz said he's hoping for a "La La Land" Broadway stage show.
"The picture was conceived as a film musical. And I think we need to figure out if there is a version of it that can live authentically as a stage musical," Horowitz said. "The songs are at this point relatively indelible. They really resonated. So one would hope that we could do that.
