Cirque du Soleil’s theatrical interpretation of some 130 Beatles songs and song fragments takes audiences through a dreamlike journey that tracks the Fab Four's career.

By Ryan Nakashima, AP


If you've ever wanted to dive into the Octopus's Garden or meet a psychedelic Sgt. Pepper, the creators of "Love," a new Beatles-themed Cirque du Soleil performance, are offering a little help from their friends.

The theatrical interpretation of some 130 songs and song fragments that debuts at The Mirage hotel-casino next in June, 2006, and takes audiences through a dreamlike journey that tracks the Fab Four's career.

In a sneak preview, producers showed a glimpse of the journey, with aerial acrobats and dancers in extravagant costumes moving to such songs as "Octopus's Garden," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and "Lady Madonna."

Previews began June 2 with a June 30 grand opening.

Show concept creator Dominic Champagne called the show "a rock 'n' roll poem" that doesn't feature images of the Beatles but attempts through dance and imagery to interpret the lyrics of their songs.

"We dreamed how would we treat 'Eleanor Rigby'? How would we treat Sgt. Pepper? How would we go into 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'?" Champagne asked. "How would we please The Beatles' fans by doing a show with The Beatles, without The Beatles? And we decided to proceed by evocation."

In "Lucy," a female acrobat dangles from a looped trapeze while tiny firefly-like lights flash in mid-air. "Lady Madonna" features a group tap dancing and shuffling in yellow rain boots, while "Octopus's Garden" figuratively submerges the audience under water with human-sized jellyfish and squid dangling above the stage.

The preview was not without glitches. Twice fire alarms sounded, interrupting the performance and bringing up the house lights. Despite the helter skelter, organizers said the show would come together by next week when preview performances begin.

Concept creator Guy Laliberte, who began the project through a personal friendship with George Harrison, said many of the show visuals, just like The Beatles' lyrics, are open to interpretation.

"We're just there to propose many doors of a journey to people and it's up to the public to decide what they want to live as an experience," he said.

The show is the first major theatrical partnership for The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps Ltd., and Cirque du Soleil, a surrealist international circus troupe based in Montreal, Quebec, which performs four other shows on the Las Vegas Strip.

The collaboration began in 2002 and resulted in the $130 million reconstruction of The Mirage's Siegfried & Roy showroom into a 2,013-seat theater in the round with more than 6,000 stereo speakers.

In the early days of forming the show, original Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his son, Giles Martin, pored through hours of original and unheard tracks that had been archived at Abbey Road Studios.

Many of the show's song treatments are subtle musical remixes that only a dedicated Beatles fan might discern.

"It is a puzzle and people can try and figure it out. They won't," George Martin said.

In one sequence, George Harrison's voice in "Within You Without You" plays seamlessly over the drums and bass of "Tomorrow Never Knows." The opening of "Good Night" serves to introduce "Octopus's Garden" after a digital upshift from the key of D to E.

"The whole idea behind what we did with the music was to try and make people listen again as opposed to taking the songs for granted," Giles Martin said. "We wanted it to be like a performance again for The Beatles, and not just playing CDs."

If you go…

Getting there: The Mirage is on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, just south of Spring Mountain Road. From McCarran International Airport, a cab works.

Ticket prices: $69, $99, $125, $150. Preview performances June 2-29 are 25 percent off.

Showtimes: 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Thursday through Monday starting July 1. At the grand opening June 30, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison are expected to appear.

General information: Call (702) 792-7777 or (800) 963-9634 for reservations.

On the Net: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/love