Production designer Bill Groom didn’t have much experience in the world of ballet when he signed onto Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino’s new Prime Video series, Étoile. But after years of immersing himself in projects as varied as A League of Their Own, Milk, Eat Pray Love and Boardwalk Empire, he felt confident he had the research capabilities and imagination to help bring the ballet drama to life.
So did the Palladinos, who worked with Groom on all five seasons of their Emmy-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The married duo leaned on him to create the look and tone of Étoile, a project close to Sherman-Palladino’s heart. Étoile is the second ballet-focused series from the former dancer, following the one-season Bunheads in 2012-13.
“When we started on Maisel, the process was more traditional in terms of the presentation of sketches and photographs and research to get a common language or vocabulary for what we were doing,” Groom says. “This was a little different. There are always new things to explore and understand with a new show and situation, but we’ve definitely developed a shorthand.”
Étoile is a dramedy that follows the dancers and artistic directors at two world-renowned ballet companies in Paris and New York. The heads of the companies, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Luke Kirby, agree to swap key talent to save their respective companies. They also make a deal with an unsavory funder, played by Simon Callow, and seek media coverage in an attempt to attract new audiences.
“In this case, it’s researching different stories in different environments,” says Groom. “We have dozens and dozens of books and dozens of folders from the Library of Congress in the art department that we put together for this project. We did research on various ballets and the styles of dancing. It was all very specific to what was being scripted.”
Groom says having a fresh eye to ballet helped him establish entry points to the series that will parallel those of viewers as they follow the characters through the swap — and subsequent training and performances.
“There’s a stage vocabulary that’s different from a screen vocabulary in terms of the spaces we created, and I began imagining myself as a stage designer, which is what I knew in college,” Groom says. “I had to go back to some of that—the layouts, the backstage area, the masking, the arrangement and scenery. Then we had to adjust it for the camera and figure out those elements.”
Bill Groom on Crossing Continents for Étoile
Following the characters offstage and creating common elements in their lives was key to understanding the artists who dedicate their lives to a beautiful but brutal discipline.
“Audiences will be drawn into ballet the way I was doing this. You learn what a discipline ballet is and how amazing these dancers are and how dedicated they are to their work,” he says. “I grew to appreciate ballet unlike I had before, and that won me over in a way that people will see on this show.”
Part of that immersive experience was ensuring there was room on set to capture the dancers but also their audience, and working within traditional ballet spaces to highlight the emotions and journeys from the scripts.
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Hiding cameras and crew in a mirror-filled studio was a challenge. So was coordinating shoots across two countries and figuring out time zones, work styles and languages. The crew wound up building some New York sets in Paris to accommodate.
“I challenge you to be able to tell which ones,” he says. “But you can take advantage of the cross-country filming too, because you have different eyes looking at things from a different point of view, and different cultural references that you can bring into the show.”
To differentiate the worlds of New York and Paris ballet, Groom and the Palladinos juxtaposed modern and classical tones. Groom scouted modern locations and colors for scenes in New York, but stuck to classical structures and tones while in Paris.
The team used Manhattan’s Lincoln Center and Paris’ Garnier Opera House for scenes when possible, and relied on a combination of elements and places to create their own unique spaces.
“There’s a difference in the way ballet is created and executed in both cities,” says Groom. “The contrast enhances the storytelling Dan and Amy had in mind.”
In Paris, Groom relied on a team that included crew he had previously worked with on Season 2 of Maisel when that series shot in France. Together they constructed a dance studio with a view of Paris that included columns and exposed brick.
“We created all of that on stage — every inch of it we sculpted,” he says. “We might have shot scenes like that at the Garnier or one of the other opera houses, but scheduling was just impossible.”
One of the biggest scenes in the premiere episode had nothing at all do with ballet, however. In it, viewers meet the étoile, or star, of the Parisian company, who is about to be transferred to New York. Cheyenne (played by Lou de Laâge) is clueless, though — she’s aboard a boat during a storm, trying to take down a ship for eco crimes.
The comical scene weighed on the budget, as it was filmed in a giant tank in Brussels and involved the construction of an actual boat that was then sent to the location.
“It was a big undertaking and we built it down to all of the gauges and everything inside,” Groom says. “It accommodated the camera moves with larger doors and things like that, but it worked. We had a great construction team, and great painters and sculptures.”
The wild scene could have been from another series, given how much it contrasted with the put-together worlds of the companies. But, it was an integral introduction to a major character — one who Groom knew needed to enter with a bang.
“We see her later as a dancer, but the first time we see her, it’s within her true passion of being an eco-warrior,” he says. “From there we see her in the context of the ballet company and understand why and how others react to her in that life. But the scene was essential for setting that up.”
Groom says that no matter how large a show may be, budget is always an issue.
“The challenge for people like me in every department is to not let the audience feel that budget limit,” he says. “You don’t want the audience watching it and saying, ‘Oh they must not have had much money to do this’ because it doesn’t seem convincing. That tension’s always there.”
Étoile is now streaming on Prime Video.
Main image: Étoile. Photo by Philippe Antonello © Amazon Content Services. AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC