Cirque du Soleil's IRIS

Cinematic Circus for Tinseltown

Cirque du Soleil's IRIS at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood

Los Angeles residents now have a resident Cirque du Soleil production of their own. The renowned Quebec-based artistic troupe has launched IRIS, created exclusively for the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. In order to enable the still relatively new Kodak Theatre to accommodate the acrobatic multimedia show, Cirque du Soleil paid for $100 million in renovations. Featuring a cast of 72 artists from 15 different countries, the extraordinarily complex show requires a crew of 125 people to run it behind the scenes nightly.

Cirque du Soleil and Denise Biggi, artistic director of IRIS, have created a poetic phantasmagoria inspired by the world of cinema. An imaginary journey through the evolution of motion pictures through optical effects and film genres, IRIS transposes into a language of dance and acrobatics cinema's splendor, inventiveness and, above all, its sense of wonder.

When the show's two young heroes, Buster and Scarlett, find themselves plunged into the joyful chaos of a film set, their escapades transport the spectator into a kaleidoscope of movement, moods and images supported by Danny Elfman's orchestral score. IRIS conjures up a place between motion and picture, light and sound that shifts constantly between reality and make-believe, to explore the limitless possibilities of cinema. IRIS, which entertains in so many ways and on so many different levels, parodies Hollywood almost as much as it celebrates it. This is the circus after all!

When: Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sundays at 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

Where: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood & Highland

Tickets: General admission $43-$133; VIP seating and group offers available

Info: www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/iris/default.aspx

Read our review of Cirque du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio, Las Vegas