In this exclusive interview, composer JEFF TOYNE discusses the music, setting the mood, following the character arcs, and “instrumental colors” that capture the emotional tone of PALM ROYALE.
SYNOPSIS: PALM ROYALE is a true underdog story that follows the ambitious Maxine Simmons (Kristen Wiig) as she schemes to secure her seat at America’s most exclusive table: Palm Beach high society circa 1969. As Maxine attempts to cross that impermeable line between the haves and the have-nots, PALM ROYALE asks the same question that still baffles us today: “How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to get what someone else has?” Set during the powder keg year of 1969, PALM ROYALE is a testament to every outsider fighting for their chance to truly belong.
Created by Abe Sylvia with episodes directed by Sylvia, Tate Taylor, Stephanie Liang, and Claire Scanlon, PALM ROYALE stars Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Julia Duffy, Leslie Bibb, Laura Dern, Mindy Cohn, and Carol Burnett, just to name a few of this star-studded cast.
JEFF TOYNE is one of today’s most accomplished film and television composers. Long an admirer of Jeff’s work thanks to television mini-series like “Who is Clark Rockefeller?”, and countless Hallmark Christmas telemovies or “Unleashing Mr. Darcy”, or charming indie films like “Dirty Girl” and “Butter”, Jeff never ceases to immerse us in a story through a defining musical tonal bandwidth. Capturing and creating mood and storytelling through musical score, he elevates every project adding texture and personality but with PALM ROYALE he raised the bar even higher. Working with showrunner Abe Sylvia, the driving force behind PALM ROYALE, the first piece of the puzzle to set the mood and tone was the images of renowned American photographer Slim Aarons. Pick up any high-end magazine in the 50s, 60s, and 70s and you will find Aarons’ images of socialites, jet-setters, and celebrities, including one that served as the guiding visual and emotional force for PALM ROYALE and its artisans.
Knowing the time and place of the tale, Toyne then found inspiration in the music of Henry Mancini, Bernard Herrmann, and others to give us a tapestried musical experience that blends the decades with post-World War II big band sounds, the froth of the 60s a la Frank DeVol that you would hear in Doris Day-Rock Hudson film, or the beats of man of action Matt Helm, or notes of the spy world a la Lalo Schifrin or Hugo Montenegro, and then capping all of that off with stunning Latin jazz influences. With composition in place, using specific instrumentation such as the Chromatic Harmonica or E Flat Clarinet, Toyne created a musical identity for each character, melding that with the interstitial score and impeccably selected needledrops.
Always exciting and educational to dive into conversation with composers about their cinematic work, it was even more so with JEFF TOYNE because of the importance of the music and motifs in PALM ROYALE. During this exclusive interview, albeit somewhat brief, we covered everything from soup to nuts to martini shakers as Jeff took me through the musical elements of PALM ROYALE, among them:
- composing music for a 10-hour television series with a focus on character themes and motifs
- blending genres and emotions; choosing genres such as Latin jazz
- Abe Sylvia’s creative direction for the series and the music
- diving into original sources of music for inspiration such as Henry Mancini and Bernard Herrmann while drawing initial inspiration from Slim Aarons’ photography specific to the Palm Beach enclave of society in 1969
- instrumentation to define a character and a character arc; e.g., clarinets to reflect Carol Burnett’s character of Norma, E-flat Clarinet and accordions for Wiig’s Maxine; trumpet for Ricky Martin’s Robert, etc.
- “instrumental colors”
- musical inspiration for defining a character like Burnett’s Norma; Bernard Herrmann
- collaborating with music supervisor George Drakoulias for a meld of needledrops with original scoring that is cohesive and immersive with a focus on authenticity to the period
- the soundtrack
- and more!
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 04/12/2024
PALM ROYALE is currently streaming on AppleTV+.
