Former Beatle Paul McCartney, producer George Martin, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and other key figures in the Fab Four circle will converge in Las Vegas on June 8 for the fifth anniversary of Cirque du Soleil's fanciful circus spectacle Love, the music-driven celebration of The Beatles' legacy.
Also attending will be Olivia Harrison, George Harrison's widow, who conceived the project in 2000 with friend and Cirque founder Guy Laliberté. The Harrisons' son, Dhani, is on the guest list, along with Martin's son, Giles. The Martins produced Love's Grammy-winning soundtrack, a complex remixed mash-up of 130 song samples in 26 tracks.
Ringo Starr, on tour overseas, plans to send a videotaped message to air during the special show, booked on a usually dark Wednesday. Roughly half the audience at The Mirage anniversary show will be invited friends and guests of The Beatles and Cirque camps; remaining seats are open to the public. A private party, with McCartney's favorite DJ Chris Holmes spinning tunes, will follow.
Love premiered June 30, 2006. The premature five-year observance was booked to accommodate as many principals as possible. (McCartney, attending with new fiancée Nancy Shevell, will perform two days later at the MGM Grand.)
The all-star entourage last gathered in 2009 in Los Angeles for the rollout of the newly remastered Beatles catalog and The Beatles: Rock Band.
A joint venture with The Beatles' Apple Corps, Love has enjoyed steady full houses, even as the recession battered Vegas entertainment outlets.
"You can see the staying power of The Beatles," says Jerry Nadal, senior vice president of Cirque's resident shows division.
The success of Love, Cirque's first show to use outside music, spawned similar ventures, including the 2009 launch of Viva Elvis.
"Another no-brainer," Nadal says. "Elvis Presley and Las Vegas."
Elton John has written an upcoming single for Zarkana, a Cirque show opening June 9 in New York with music by John's protégé, Nick Littlemore. The music and dance moves of Michael Jackson will fuel The Immortal World Tour, which begins touring the globe later this year before settling in Vegas in 2013. Danny Elfman scored the music for Iris, a movie-themed extravaganza kicking off its 10-year run in September at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars (which will take over the venue two months a year).
"Tapping into all these different fan bases has meant a great expansion for us," says Nadal, noting that Love has driven sales for other Cirque spectacles. "For the first year or two, we got a lot of hardcore Beatles fans who had never seen a Cirque show. They said, 'Wow, that's Cirque? I want to see another one.'
"Anytime you make an investment north of $100 million, there's a risk, but this ended up being a great marriage."
