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 Read
Bobbie's exclusive report
on the dedication ceremony that she attended, along with photos,
here.
It
is a creation that has its genesis in two entities deciding
to take a bite out of the musical Apple. Now all you need
is LOVE to make the world of the Beatles go round –
in or out of the “Octopus’ Garden”
LOVE, the result of the fruits of the labors of Cirque du
Soleil in co-production with Apple Corps LTD, the Beatles’
company, is the newest Cirque addition to the Las Vegas Strip,
having opened at the Mirage in June 2006.  The
project, which captures the essence of love that John, Paul,
George and Ringo inspired during their amazing adventure together,
was born out of a personal friendship and mutual admiration
between the late George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder
Guy Laliberte.
It has been a long and winding road but Cirque magic has skillfully
been combined with the spirit and passion of the Beatles to
create a uniquely intimate theatrical experience in which
everyone can take part.
“It began back in the year 2000 in Montreal during a
festival weekend,” Laliberte explains. “Every
year, I have a party in my backyard. I had met George a few
times and he came to my party that year. He was fighting cancer
but he came at the beginning and was the last to leave –
he paid me a visit in my magical garden.”
<TOP>
“It was a profoundly touching experience,” he
continues. “He asked me if we could talk a little more
about doing something with the Beatles and invited me to spend
a day with him the next time I came to London. So I did. I
went to his fantastic mansion and we talked about the emotion
of what a LOVE show could be.
We
shared the dream of doing something together and he told me
his dream of doing something with the Beatles again before
they all died. Sadly, George passed away in the process of
doing this show.”
The surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along
with John  Lennon’s
widow, Yoko Ono, and Harrison’s widow, Olivia, have
been partners with Lailberte in LOVE and involved every step
of the way. The show is the closest thing to the Beatles’
legacy that exists and the first thing they’ve done
together in 35 years.
In structure, LOVE is somewhat akin to the land of the surreal
meeting “Get Back” to where you once belonged.
A theater with 360-degree seating (the world’s most
technologically advanced), along with state-of-the-art sound,
lighting, projection, costumes, props, imagery and an odyssey
of song characters that come to life, are combined with the
aura of the 1960’s -- yesterday brought to the fore
by contemporary dancing and acrobatics performed by a 60-member
cast, all set to the Beatles’ music.
<TOP>
“I wanted to create a Beatles experience rather than
a Beatles story, taking the audience on an emotional journey
rather than a chronological one, exploring the landscapes
and experiences that have marked the group’s history,”
says Dominic Champagne, who directs the show and wrote the
original concept. “I asked the Beatles to give me the
10 main song titles that, to them, constituted the core of
the show. Sir George Martin, the Beatles original producer,
and his son, Giles, proposed ‘Get Back’ as the
opening. I began feeling that the Beatles has done their last
concert on a rooftop and that the show should start where
they left off, celebrating the return of their music.”
 Champagne
says that what he ended up creating with the show was a “Rock
‘n’ Roll poem,” a magical mystery tour into
the heart and soul of the Beatles music through an exploration
of the aesthetic, political and spiritual trends of the 1960s.
He
notes that it highlights the group’s artistic life while
staying faithful to the spirit of their own creativity. The
series of scenes inhabited by colorful characters in extravagant
costumes and makeup that comprise LOVE were inspired by the
poetry of the lyrics of the 28 songs in the show and designed
by the Cirque creative team.
In creating the musical component of LOVE, Musical Director
Sir George Martin and his son, Giles, were at the epicenter.
Their efforts heralded somewhat of a revolution, an unprecedented
approach to the music for a stage production. By using the
techniques that Sir George pioneered in the 1960s and linking
them to the best technology today, he and his son have created
a unique soundscape of original Beatles music for the show.
“One of the challenges of the job was getting the balance
of the songs right,” says Sir George. “We wanted
to make sure that there were enough good solid hit songs in
the show but we didn’t want it to be a catalog of “best
ofs.” We also wanted to put in some interesting and
not well-known Beatles music and use fragments of songs. ‘Strawberry
Fields’ was the most difficult song we did. Yoko had
given us a tape of John singing a fragment of the song before
he had written the rest of it. It was so moving that we wanted
to evolve it into the whole song.”
When it came to the music chosen for the show, it was a process
of negotiation between the Beatles and the creative team.
According to Giles, the Beatles had a list of songs they wanted
in the show, as did he and his father. Ringo wanted “Octopus’
Garden,” while Olivia Harrison suggested “Something”
and Yoko proposed “Strawberry Fields.” While all,
along with Paul, had a say in the show, they didn’t
take part in the design. They either approved or disapproved
of things throughout the entire process and then everything
was very amicably worked out.
“It took us two-and-a-half years to mix and edit the
music,” Sir George sums up. “The last thing we
wanted was for the audience to feel like they’re listening
to a record. We have tried to give the impression that the
Beatles are alive and performing.”
It took a village, so to speak, but the Beatles have “come
together” once again with LOVE.
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ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
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Get
Back to Where You Once Belonged
