If you've been to Vegas lately, you should have noticed the Mirage hotel and casino on the strip, which means you should have noticed the bright orange and yellow banners for the sensational tribute show celebrating the Beatles' music, Love by Cirque du Soleil.
The music and performance of Love exist harmoniously, complementing one another.
The show's concept was developed when the late Beatle George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté decided to combine forces. The result is a fantasia of extravagant sights and sounds that will convert any Beatle novice into a passionate fan.
Love debuted in June 2006 in its own custom-built theater housed in the Mirage. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have seen the show -- and it's still going strong.
At the top of the show, the audience waits in shadowy darkness as the performers slowly emerge from offstage and the rafters above. The haunting acapella version of "Because" echoes through the theater. Huge screens can be seen from all angles of the theater, each projecting the silhouette of one of the fab four. These silhouettes and other projections of the group appear intermittently throughout the show accompanied by studio-recording banter and other audio clips.
All of the sudden, an explosion of color, dancing, and music bursts onto the stage, and the audience is swept into an amazing whirlwind with the infectious tune "Get Back." There are bodies bouncing, spinning, and strutting all over the stage. Everywhere you look, something interesting is happening; you cannot possibly catch all of the grand spectacle that is happening before your very eyes, but you strain so desperately to see it all. The stunning swirl of sight and sound left my jaw dropped and my emotions pulsating.
As the show continues, each number brings about a complex and awe-inspiring scene. And just when you think you've seen the most extreme performance element of the show, you're surprised yet again.
Performers dance on moving cars, bounce off phone booths, loop 360 degrees on oversized swings, tag-team roller skate on two huge half-pipes, and wave huge bubbles from a pool of soapy liquid inside a piano case.
The reason why Love is such a success is that in addition to being produced in conjunction with the Beatles' company, Apple Corps Ltd., each song is fully captured in its visual form without being trampled by obnoxious spectacle. Instead, the music and performance exist harmoniously, complementing one another. Every design and performance element seems to have been carefully planned and crafted to communicate and accentuate every detail of every song.
One of the most unbelievable moments of the show comes during "Tomorrow Never Knows," a psychedelic, free-flowing song from the band's 1966 album, Revolver. The entire inspiration for the scene can be felt in only the first portion of music and lyrics:
"Turn off your mind, relax, and float down stream.
It is not dying. It is not dying.
Lay down all thought. Surrender to the void.
It is shining. It is shining."
As the song progresses, an enormous, white parachute spreads out and undulates flawlessly on the stage like a wide ocean. The flowing blanket-like mass quickly engulfs the entire stage, and eventually, the first few rows of the audience, adding some hands-on audience interaction. The view from my seat was like nothing I had ever seen. Then, when the song approaches the end, the parachute neatly minimizes itself, disappearing into a trap door on the stage floor.
Some of my other favorite moments from Love were simple and beautiful, especially "Something" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." "Something" includes a romantic ballet with a man dancing on the stage and his aerial ballerina suspended high above, swooping in and out of his arms swiftly yet softly.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" also showcases a pure angelic woman swinging and flying through the sky with only a rope helping keep her afloat. The diamond-like jewels on her costume glisten as she glides around in the sky, captivating the entire room.
Adding yet another level of depth to this show are the character relationships that develop using no words on stage. These different forms of "love" are tied into the songs and performances. The bond of a mother and young son is seen in "A Day in the Life." The disappointment of a man in search of love is seen earlier in the show. At the end of the show, friendship and acceptance emerge when that same boy and man meet one another.
Love possesses all the theatrical and musical elements that audiences flock to. It's like going to see a concert and Broadway show without paying for both tickets. Non-Beatles fans will be transfixed by the group, or at least gain a genuine respect for their work, and Beatles fans' hearts will sing.
Catch Love at the Love Theater at the Mirage in Las Vegas now. Show times are Thursday through Monday at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Tickets range from $93.50 to $150.
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