It’s all about the music on this episode of Bridgerton: The Official Podcast. Host Gabrielle Collins sits down with composer Kris Bowers and choreographer Jack Murphy to hear about their creative process putting together ballroom scenes that marry Regency music and movement with a more modern flair (like incorporating the samba!), plus showrunner Chris Van Dusen and executive producer Shonda Rimes chime in with their take on the importance of the score on any creative project. Then, directors Julie Anne Robinson and Tom Verica talk about how they shot the ballroom scenes (a process that involved several £5 million Regency chandeliers, hidden microphones, and Stormzy on the stereo).
Kris tells Gabrielle that they tried purely classical and purely modern music before settling on their signature classical covers of modern songs; he and Jack both talk about the importance of getting the energy and vibe right, instead of strictly the historical accuracy. “Like an Impressionist painting,” Kris says, the music paints “a scene that’s recognizable….but it’s a little washy and a little dreamy.” Like Kris, Jack worked with pure Regency dance moves at first, but then re-worked them with more modern movements and steps. He also wanted to capture the feelings of the characters rather than stick to the history books, so the audience would feel the same way Daphne Bridgerton feels when she first enters a ballroom or hears a daring new piece of music. “I did the job twice!” he laughs. But it was all worth it: At one point during shooting, he says, “I just knew at that point – with costume, with set, with choreography – that we had nailed it.”
Julie Anne and Tom didn’t have the final score when they shot the ballroom scenes, and whole different kind of choreography was needed to make them happen. Each ballroom scene has so many little scenes within it that they had to choreograph and rehearse each actor’s movement as well as the camera’s as one big sequence, rather than shooting several smaller scenes. “It was really tricky, really difficult to do, but it gave the ballroom scenes a sense of movement and shape that I’m really proud of,” Julie says. Hear more behind-the-scenes magic about your favorite Regency show on this episode of Bridgerton: The Official Podcast.
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