USA: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono attend first Beatles-sanctioned stage show in Las Vegas.

Record ID: 219602

  • Title: USA: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono attend first Beatles-sanctioned stage show in Las Vegas.
  • Date: 6th July 2006
  • Summary: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 30, 2006) (REUTERS) (CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY) EXTERIOR OF MIRAGE HOTEL WHERE THE BEATLES "LOVE" CIRQUE DU SOLIEL IS PLAYING RED CARPET ARRIVALS FOR "LOVE" OPENING NIGHT DOMINIC CHAMPAGNE, SHOW DIRECTOR AND CONCEPT CREATOR OF "LOVE" IN BLACK JACKET AND ORANGE PANTS POSING WITH CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM CAMERAMAN
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA7ZSSE7JF5NBFXP5YC4N5FDLB6
  • Story Text: The surviving members of The Beatles, along with

    family members, celebrated "Love" in Las Vegas on Friday

    (June 30) on the opening night of the Cirque Du Soliel

    show.

    "I am excited it is a great show. I have seen the

    previews I have finally come to see the culmination. But I

    am very excited great music and it is remixed for the first

    time ever and Cirque du Soliel man its a mixture,"

    McCartney said on the arrival line.

    Lucy swoops on a trapeze across a sky twinkling with

    diamonds, Mr. Kite presides over a psychedelic circus of

    stiltwalkers and acrobats, and the unmistakable voices of

    John, Paul, George and Ringo fill the surround

    sound-equipped arena.

    With a little help from a lot of friends, The Beatles are

    brought back to life in a Cirque du Soleil spectacular that

    marks the band's first agreement to collaborate on a stage

    show.

    In the desert gambling city of Las Vegas, the Canadian

    acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil opened its "Love"

    celebration of the musical legacy of The Beatles that was

    almost five years in the making.

    "Love" was born of a friendship between the late George

    Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. It was

    blessed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, supported by

    John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, and masterminded musically by

    legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin.

    "We were very concerned the very strange thing is that

    you know sometimes we do not agree with each other as you

    know, we are famous for that, but we agreed on everything

    and it´s just beautiful ," Yoko Ono told Reuters.

    Staged in a custom-built, 2,000-seat theater at the

    Mirage hotel, "Love" takes its audience on a

    part-chronological, part-fantasy journey through the life

    and times of the four young men from Liverpool who inspired

    a worldwide Beatlemania that continues 40 years after their

    first hit record.

    High-wire acrobats, break dancers, trampoline artists

    and skaters bring life to characters like Sgt. Pepper, Lady

    Madonna and the sea world of Octopus's Garden in a visual

    feast of color, light and adventure.

    Audio clips from decades-old Beatles recording sessions

    and interviews, photo montages and footage from their famed

    last concert on the rooftops of central London play in huge

    back projections.

    But for avid Beatles fans, the real star of the show is

    the music -- some 130 songs remixed, mashed up and born

    again with a clarity never heard before.

    "They are the founding fathers in a way you know they

    really are that quintessential pop Euro English British pop

    and it had a huge influence in the 60´s, in the mid 60´s,

    and it has carried through," said singer Debbie Harry of

    Blondie.

    Sir George Martin, who worked on every Beatles album

    except "Let It Be," and his son Giles Martin spent two

    years working from the original master tapes of The Beatles

    sessions to produce a 90- minute soundtrack that is played

    through six speakers in the back of each seat as well as a

    panoramic sound system.

    McCartney's "Yesterday" feels so close you can hear the

    strings of his acoustic guitar snapping on the neck.

    Well-known songs like "Revolution" and "Come Together" are remixed wi

    th snippets from other Beatles hits while

    tracks like "Get Back" and "Within you, Without You" are

    intermingled.

    McCartney, who has already seen the show in preview,

    and Starr were closely involved in the project as were

    George's widow Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono. The idea of

    teaming up with Cirque du Soleil first came from Harrison

    before his death in 2001.

    "I am just obviously really sorry he is not here at

    all but obviously not here tonight. But it is fun it´s

    been a great creative process and a great gift to me to be

    involved in it and I hope a great gift to everybody else

    because I think it is very inspired and inspiring," said

    Olivia Harrison.

    The go-ahead for the show came in 2002 from Apple Corps.

    Ltd., the English company that administers The Beatles'

    interests.

    "I think John would have loved it and that is the

    only regret I have is that he is not here," said Yoko Ono

    of her late husband John Lennon.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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