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I just came back from the Kodak Theater, where I had the chance to see the first preview of Cirque du Soleil’s Iris. I have to admit I hate circus, and I’ve never been a fan of Cirque du Soleil… But THIS is just AMAZING.
I had never seen anything like this in my whole life. The sets, the dancers/acrobats, the colors, the originality, and… THE MUSIC !!!I’m not going to write a lot about the show itself, but I just want to give you an idea of the score.
First surprise, the show starts with a song, with vocals by DANNY ELFMAN himself. Instead of showing “Do not use cameras”, or “Do not smoke” signs, You just hear Danny sing this welcome song, and all these warnings with a short animated film. The lyrics are really funny, his voice is, as always, great. The melody reminded me a lot of fast Jimmy Callicut songs (The Executive Song).
Then, the show starts with a man, playing the piano. That first theme is the main theme of Iris, and many variations will appear during the whole show. It’s a very melodic theme, that reminded me of Victor’s Piano Solo in Corpse Bride, only it’s more beautiful. It is also close to the piano theme in Big Fish, specially when it’s played by Helena Bonham Carter, in that scene, where she’s in her house, and Edward Bloom’s son visits her.
It’s hard to remember exactly every bit of the show, but here are the several musical styles I noticed :
-there are a lot of fast 30’s / 40’s jazzy sequences, in the style of Dick Tracy’s “Crime Spree”
-I noticed a lot of “oompah-oompah” rythms, like the beetlejuice main theme.
-Some action sequences sounded like they were unused parts of the Nightbreed or the Hellboy 2 soundtracks, with a lot of choir.
-There are a lot of very interesting string arrangements, with ostinatos, like Serenada, or Standard Operating procedure.
-The whole score is very percussion orientated. The drums, african percussions and other ethnic instruments are very present, even in more quiet and romantic moments. The sound mixing is very impressive. You really feel surrounded, and there are a lot of stereo effects, specially with the drums.
-There’s a seduction scene, with a retro lounge music, very close to the “Martian Madame” theme from Mars Attacks.
-There are also very typical “Cirque du Soleil” music moments, with a female voice singing a beautiful melody with long sustained notes. It’s a style I had never heard coming from Elfman.
The music is pre-recorded with an orchestra, some electronics, a lot of percussion. But there are 8 live solists (violas, violin, drums, keyboards, saxophone, and maybe some others) who play along, and that brings a lot to the experience. They’re in the balcony seats, and the audience can clearly see them. They’re part of the show!
Since tonight’s perfomance was the first preview, Danny was there, busy in the mixing room.
His brother Richard was there as well.
And all the producers and directors of the show were there.Before leaving the Kodak Theater, I asked about a cd release. They all gave me the same answer : it’s going to be ready in about two months or so. Let’s hope it’s for real.
Overall, I highly recommend going to see Iris. Even if you don’t like these kind of shows. It’s unique. And it’s a great experience to discover a Danny Elfman score by actually leaving it !
I hope you understood my poor english (sorry for all the mistakes). If you have any questions about things I forgot to mention, please ask. Or if anyone else got to go, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Last thing, I noticed that a lot of videos had been posted on youtube, and in some of them, you can clearly hear Danny’s score. Sadly, I haven’t found one single video where the main romantic theme is heard. But I think it’s just a matter of time
Here’s that piano main theme I was talking about, along with Danny Elfman interviews
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