Bringing quite the amazing level of excitement to Hollywood, the stars were out in full force for the premiere of “IRIS, A Journey Through the World of Cinema by Cirque du Soleil” on Sunday evening (September 25).
Held exclusively at Kodak Theatre, a number of Tinseltown couples including “Mad Men” beauty Christina Hendricks and husband Geoffrey Arend, “Fool’s Gold” hunk Matthew McConaughey and his lady Camila Alves, as well as “Underworld” actress Kate Beckinsale and husband Len Wiseman, all turned up for the show’s debut performance.
Also joining in on the Kodak Theatre festivities were AnnaLynne McCord, Cindy Crawford and family, Priscilla Presley, Joe Manganiello, Chloe Moretz and Christina Milian, among numerous other familiar faces.
One of the movie stars to stand out from the crowd was “Avatar” Director James Cameron, who openly marveled at the show’s capacity for superior special effects. “You sit there with your mouth open,” He gushed. “You can’t believe it’s happening in front of you and it’s physically real. It feels like special effects but there are no special effects.”
The franchise has also found a fan in actress Vanessa Hudgens, who arrived to the big event with look-a-like sister Stella. “I love Cirque so much,” she grinned. “It just opens your mind up. You just feel so creative like you’ve been to another planet.”
The live movie-themed spectacle features 75 dancers as well as a symphonic score written by composer Danny Elfman.
Scheduled to run for 10 years, the Philippe Decouflé-directed production takes “a unique look at the history of cinema, combining it “with Cirque du Soleil’s traditional artistic works of dance, acrobatics, and modern circus traditions.”
Building on this idea, Cirque du Soleil CEO Daniel Lamarre added that the show will pay homage to various cinematic genres, from silent movies to the current 3D craze.
“The inspiration for the show comes from a performance Cirque gave at the Oscar ceremony [in 2002],” said Lamarre. “We saw that there was a synergy between our kind of performance and the movies.”
As for the cause of such a celebrity frenzy, Iris is the first show produced by Cirque du Soleil to be located at the Kodak Theatre – with the cost for production of the show set at a staggering $120,000,000.
Pictures of the stars at the IRIS, A Journey Through the World of Cinema by Cirque du Soleil premiere at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles: PHOTO GALLERY
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