All that jazz? ‘La La Land’ week hits town

Crew leader John Cordova and maintenance worker Dennis Hrboka finish installing the last of the 12 vintage street lamps along the Hermosa Pier in celebration of “La La Land” week. Photo

Late Tuesday morning, a Hermosa Beach city work truck rumbled out onto the municipal pier. The two-man crew was not checking out a weak guardrail, though, or cleaning up a stain on the concrete: they were installing props from an Oscar-winning movie.
One dozen vintage lamps will be lit on the Hermosa Pier through Sunday evening, as part of Hermosa’s “La La Land” celebration honoring the town’s prominent place in the 2016 movie. “La La Land” was nominated for best picture and won the Academy Award for Best original song for “City of Stars,” which heartthrob Ryan Gosling sang as he walked along the city’s pier.

Gosling’s character, a stubborn jazz-lover named Sebastian, is drawn to Hermosa because of the Lighthouse Cafe, the city’s legendary jazz club, where several scenes from the movie were also filmed. To honor the city’s place in jazz history, the Lighthouse will be providing jazz musicians on the pier Wednesday through Friday from 6 p.m to 7 p.m. Then on Saturday, the city will host a performance by Lou Giovanetti and jazz dancers at the foot of the Pier from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by a screening of the movie on the sand south of the Pier.

The city previously put on a “La La Land” day last year, which drew thousands of people and also featured the iconic street lamps. The production company took them back at the end of the day but, after the event was over, people looking to take photos for social media wondered where they had gone. Then earlier this year, Dency Nelson, a Hermosa resident who has served as the stage manager for the Oscars, tracked down the actual lamps featured in the movie. But the lamps were only available to rent by the week, so the city decided to expand the festivity.

Local credit union Kinecta donated $20,000 in sponsorship, with the city approving an additional $20,000 to cover the rest of the event. City culture buffs and the Chamber of Commerce backed the event, while the council viewed dipping into discretionary funds as a way to promote the city, and is considering making the celebration an annual event.

“If you look for a line item on our budget that says ‘cultural enhancements,’ you won’t find it. But that doesn’t mean that we as a council are not constantly interested in doing exactly that,” Councilmember Jeff Duclos said.

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