Jeremy Irons lends his voice to Amazon rainforest-inspired dance show at Sadler's Wells

Jeremy Irons will share the billing with a host of rainforest creatures in a stage show inspired by the Amazon.

The Oscar-winning actor has recorded a voiceover for Voices Of The Amazon, a dance musical created by production company Sisters Grimm.

The duo behind the company, former ballet dancer Pietra Mello-Pittman and composer Ella Spira, travelled to South America to research the show and record some of the soundtrack in the rainforest.

Mello-Pittman, who moved to the UK from Brazil when she was five, said the country was “top of the list” as the setting for a new show. It follows the sell-out success of their Zulu musical Inala at Sadler’s Wells in 2014.

She said: “We took a sound recordist to the Amazon with us and it was as if we had put a call out for bird auditions. We climbed up this huge tower above the canopy for the dawn chorus and it was amazing. There were the sounds of the rain, the thunder and the lightning and all the different creatures, the birds and the monkeys, and that is all part of the show too.”

The show tells the story of an Amazonian water spirit whose quest to find a cure for her dying sister takes her on a life-changing journey deep into the rainforest.

Mello-Pittman, who retired from the Royal Ballet in 2015 after 13 years, and Spira approached Irons through mutual friends as they “knew he would be perfect” for the part of the narrator.

She said: “We sent him the script and he very much collaborated on that in the room. He had made lots of notes and we worked together on it going through it line by line. It’s wonderful, it really adds another layer.

“He is passionate about the environment, he is passionate about good causes. Our concept of trying to connect audiences to nature in a different way, through music and dance, is something he thought was a good idea.”

The cast, which includes American, Greek, Brazilian and British performers, will be backed by a live band on stage. The “music-driven” show will feature some songs in English and others in Portuguese.

​Mello-Pittman said: “There is singing, which makes it very different to ballet or anything that dance companies do because you don’t get that live singing. Whereas all our performers are miked up and sing and dance.

“It has got this beautiful story, a love story, and has really got family at the heart of it and love and loyalty.

“I always like seeing ballet in different contexts and trying to bring new audiences to different genres and uniting the audience.”

Voices Of The Amazon is at Sadler’s Wells, Islington, from July 4 to 8. More information at sadlerswells.com