The Beatles "Love" - Cirque du Soleil
Last Friday when Father Time declared that I should now be 43 years old, my wife and I flew to Las Vegas to see Cirque du Soleil perform The Beatles' "Love" show at the Mirage Resort.
An usherette dressed like an English bobby escorted us to our seats. The theater was set up in the round so there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Since he show didn't start for another 20 minutes, we sat there listening to the incidental music consisting of the Beatles' songs without the vocals. What a fresh way of hearing the songs all over again! It made you really appreciate their talent for melody and musicianship and George Martin's equally phenomenal talent for producing and arranging.
Then at 7pm the show began. Four acrobats dressed like sailors climbed ropes against backdrops of clouds and sky, to the acapella version of "Because". Suddenly the sailors swooped down off the ropes as a set done up like the Liverpool rooftops rose from the floor and "Get Back" made itself known. Instantly a cast of characters appeared out of nowhere and danced/mimed to the music as confetti rained down.
For the next 90 minutes, props and performers weaved in and out, up and down, from the ceiling and through the floor, all to the "mashed up" songs of the Beatles. It was very stream of consciousness, dreamscape stuff but each bit still made sense in the context of itself. The costumes were amazing - they looked like a collaboration between Dali and Terry Gilliam. The choreography was absolutely flawless. I guess it had to be since the performers worked without a net!
The best part for me, along with the music, were the performers. Literally all ages and sizes, representing archetypal British figures and the personification of psychedelia and Eastern mysticism. And of course there were the characters from various songs (Dr. Robert, Fr. Mackenzie, Mr. Kite, Lady Madonna, etc). All were brilliant not just for their acrobatics and pantomime but their "acting" as well. There were really some emotional moments arising from the interplay of the characters. One Everyman character that wandered about the entire show realized at the end that "the love you take is equal to the love you make", and when he comforted a young boy ("Hey Jude") he finally received reciprocated affection.
You gotta hand it to those folks at the Mirage, for designing the theater in such a way that you had to exit via the gift shop. Bought a program, a coffee mug, and a pin. There was a silhouette of the Beatles jumping in the air against one wall, and many of the other attendees had their picture taken up against it. It was cool for me to see two little 12-year old girls posing in front of it making the peace sign, because that told me the Beatles will always be a part of every generation just like Shakespeare and Picasso.
Now I have to find out how I can get a hold of that instrumental incidental music!
An usherette dressed like an English bobby escorted us to our seats. The theater was set up in the round so there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Since he show didn't start for another 20 minutes, we sat there listening to the incidental music consisting of the Beatles' songs without the vocals. What a fresh way of hearing the songs all over again! It made you really appreciate their talent for melody and musicianship and George Martin's equally phenomenal talent for producing and arranging.
Then at 7pm the show began. Four acrobats dressed like sailors climbed ropes against backdrops of clouds and sky, to the acapella version of "Because". Suddenly the sailors swooped down off the ropes as a set done up like the Liverpool rooftops rose from the floor and "Get Back" made itself known. Instantly a cast of characters appeared out of nowhere and danced/mimed to the music as confetti rained down.
For the next 90 minutes, props and performers weaved in and out, up and down, from the ceiling and through the floor, all to the "mashed up" songs of the Beatles. It was very stream of consciousness, dreamscape stuff but each bit still made sense in the context of itself. The costumes were amazing - they looked like a collaboration between Dali and Terry Gilliam. The choreography was absolutely flawless. I guess it had to be since the performers worked without a net!
The best part for me, along with the music, were the performers. Literally all ages and sizes, representing archetypal British figures and the personification of psychedelia and Eastern mysticism. And of course there were the characters from various songs (Dr. Robert, Fr. Mackenzie, Mr. Kite, Lady Madonna, etc). All were brilliant not just for their acrobatics and pantomime but their "acting" as well. There were really some emotional moments arising from the interplay of the characters. One Everyman character that wandered about the entire show realized at the end that "the love you take is equal to the love you make", and when he comforted a young boy ("Hey Jude") he finally received reciprocated affection.
You gotta hand it to those folks at the Mirage, for designing the theater in such a way that you had to exit via the gift shop. Bought a program, a coffee mug, and a pin. There was a silhouette of the Beatles jumping in the air against one wall, and many of the other attendees had their picture taken up against it. It was cool for me to see two little 12-year old girls posing in front of it making the peace sign, because that told me the Beatles will always be a part of every generation just like Shakespeare and Picasso.
Now I have to find out how I can get a hold of that instrumental incidental music!
-Tom
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