Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
words by > Nick Burry
All you need is love
*Las Vegas may have once been a shrine to Elvis, but lately the Beatles have stolen top billing status on The Strip. LOVE, fuses the showmanship of the world’s most innovative circus with the timeless music of the Fab Four.
Music from the golden age of rock may be the standard for today’s theatrical mega-productions, but the partnership between the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil dates back to the friendship between George Harrison and Cirque founder Guy Laliberte. As a result, for the first time ever, the Beatles’ music is part of a major theatrical performance. The Beatles’ original producer, Sir George Martin, and his son Giles Martin hunted through the recording archive at Abbey Road Studios, hand picking the perfect songs and snippets that make up the soundtrack of LOVE, Cirque’s new production. Giles says, “People are going to be knocked out by what they are hearing.”
But the lads from Liverpool contribute more than just a musical backdrop to the show. The entire performance models its tone on the Beatles’ unique brand of charm and irreverence, and the series of scenes derive their content from the lyrics of their songs.
The 60 Cirque du Soleil entertainers who make up the cast of LOVE represent a melding of highbrow opera singers and ballet dancers with vaudevillian contortionists and jugglers. As diverse as their talents are, the performers share a common bond: the ability to transfix the audience with feats of superhuman strength, uncanny agility and effortless grace.
LOVE once again demonstrates how Cirque du Soleil has redefined the circus arts. Instead of oversized-shoe-and-suspenders outfits, Cirque cast members are clad in original (and often outlandish) costumes. The LOVE wardrobe runs the gambit from mod to magical; the garments are an essential part of the show since the focus is on human talent. The pace is set by a progression of realistic and imaginary sketches, interwoven with extreme sports vignettes and freestyle urban dance routines.
While Cirque du Soleil isn’t your run-of-the-mill three-ring affair, it just wouldn’t be a circus without the flying trapeze. True to Cirque du Soleil’s pioneering reputation, LOVE delivers awesome and original aerial performances.
It takes a special venue to host the combined grandeur of Cirque du Soleil and the Beatles. The uniquely constructed theater, housed in the Mirage Hotel, boasts 360-degree seating and a design that ensures every viewer remains smack in the middle of the action: the furthest seat is a mere 98 feet from the center of the stage. Even more impressive is the audio/visual system. The state-of-the art sound system envelops the audience; three speakers in every seat create a surround sound experience for each spectator. You’ve never listened to the Beatles like this!
Complementing the extreme audio setup are high definition digital projectors splashing images across two 103 x 20-foot screens. The technology constantly stimulates the senses, while the structure of the theater effectively draws the viewer into the performance. The result is a 90-minute suspension of disbelief.
At first, the pairing of the Beatles with Cirque du Soleil might seem strange. Aside from the friendship between Harrison and Laliberte, what does a 1960s British pop band have to do with a performing arts troupe from French Canada? Actually, the two groups have a lot in common. Cirque du Soleil combines a street performance feel with serious opera and theater motifs, just as the Beatles often melded a catchy pop sound with classical symphonic arrangements. And anybody who’s ever seen the movies Help! or A Hard Day’s Night knows that the Beatles were natural clowns. LOVE captures that youthful charm and exuberance, enthralling Beatles lovers and sowing the seeds for a new generation of Fab Four fans.