‘American Movie Musical’

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — With its characters bursting into song and dance at the drop of a top hat, no Hollywood genre is more blissfully escapist than the movie musical — nor more attuned to the reality its audiences need to escape. The South Orange-Maplewood Adult School will look at the evolution of this genre and its themes, from the political messages and romantic fantasies of 1930s films, such as “Gold Diggers of 1933” and “The Gay Divorcee,” to the artistic ambitions of Gene Kelly in “On the Town” and “An American in Paris” to its modern rebirth in “La La Land.”

The lecture will be Monday, Oct. 2, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Columbia High School’s Black Box Theatre. Leading the discussion will be Stephen Whitty, a writer and critic for newspapers, magazines and websites, while also working as a college lecturer, film festival host, interviewer and juror.

Admission is charged; for more information, call 973-378-7620 or visit www.somadultschool.org.

  Columbia High School, SOMA Adult School