Vintage ‘La La Land’ lights will return to Hermosa Beach Pier for weekend ceremony

The “La La Land” lights are coming back to the Hermosa Beach Pier — at least for one night.

Sunday has been proclaimed “La La Land” Day in Hermosa Beach, with the prop lights used in the Academy Award-winning film installed that day for a ceremony and performance by musicians from the film.

“La La Land” brought national and worldwide attention to the Hermosa Beach Pier and to the historic Lighthouse Cafe on Pier Plaza after the locations were used in pivotal scenes in the box office hit starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

“We have the highly aesthetic look to the film, and so now we can actually see what it looks like at the end of the pier,” said Councilman Jeff Duclos, an advocate for installing similar lights permanently on the pier.

Fans of the film have flocked to the Hermosa Beach Pier and to the Lighthouse Cafe since the film was released last December and captured six Academy Awards in February. The lights can be seen during Gosling’s song and dance number for the Oscar-winning song “City of Stars.”

Duclos said the city has had discussions with the studio Lionsgate, parent company of distributor Summit Entertainment, to bring back the prop lights used in the film. The city has shown an interest in incorporating similar lights in future renovations at the pier.

Fans of the film are invited to come spend the day beginning at 11 a.m., when the film’s set makers begin installing the vintage lamp posts.

FESTIVITIES FROM 5-7 P.M.

The official ceremony begins at 5 p.m., when Mayor Justin Massey will present a proclamation to members of the “La La Land” production team. Supervising location manager Robert Foulkes and music supervisor Steven Gizicki will recount their experience filming the dusk scene on the pier and another at the city’s nearby jazz club, The Lighthouse.

Musicians from the film will perform songs from the movie’s soundtrack, including “City of Stars,” live on Pier Plaza during the ceremonial lighting of the lamp posts. A commemorative plaque noting the pier’s history and the date and details of the movie’s filming will be presented to city officials by the Leadership Hermosa Beach group.

The event and the musical performance will conclude at 7 p.m.

PERMANENT LIGHTS UNDER CONSIDERATION

Duclos said there are many factors, among them cost and infrastructure considerations, that will determine whether the city will install similar lights permanently. Issues dealing with the rehabilitation of the pier were in the planning stages long before “La La Land” was released, he said.

“Somebody gave us this opportunity to look at our pier in a completely different kind of way,” Duclos said. “We can celebrate the film and bring attention to our city in a really good way and to also take a sneak peek at what the pier might look like.”

The Sunday pier lighting follows Tuesday’s officially proclaimed “La La Land” Day in the city of Los Angeles, a major backdrop for the film. The date coincides with the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray.

Open to the public, a dedication ceremony will take place beginning at 8:30 a.m. on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall. A jazz band will open the ceremony, Mayor Eric Garcetti will offer a formal dedication and aerial dancers will perform a medley inspired by the film.

Director Damien Chazelle, composer Justin Hurwitz, production designers David and Sandy Wasco, choreographer Mandy Moore and jewelry designer Kyle Chan all are expected to attend the ceremony.