Even classic songs from The Beatles need a revamp once in a while. Cirque du Soleil did just that with its show The Beatles LOVE at The Mirage, all in time for its 10th anniversary celebration on July 14. That gives the nearly 8 million people who have seen more than 4,500 performances a new reason to get a glimpse of The Beatles, and the Canadian entertainment company’s vision of some of the most iconic songs from the band’s catalog.
Changes touch just about every corner of the show, which is set in the round, including new acts performed to different songs from The Beatles’ epic catalog, spruced-up costumes and refreshed choreography and technology, all serving as a backdrop to the group’s musical revolution. Musical director Giles Martin, the son of the legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, remixed the show’s entire soundtrack, which earned three Grammy Awards.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr play central characters in this 90-minute show—they can be heard in banter recorded from studio sessions and seen on scrims and video displays throughout the theater. The Cirque acrobatics in conjunction with their remastered songs were recently redone by NappyTabs, the Emmy award-winning choreographers of So You Think You Can Dance. New visuals hand-drawn by Dandypunk, which pop up on 20 new projectors as well as on the floor of the main stage, include flowers that performers dance with.
Even acts in the show come in quartets to match the trailblazing band, whether it’s four female aerialists swinging in and out of the arms of one man during “Something,” the act with four roller skaters catching new heights off of skateboarding ramps during “Help!” or a bed filled with four children riding atop a wave of billowing white fabric that rolls like the sea over the audience during the psychedelic “Within You Without You.”
Just as much a part of the fabric of The Beatles is the ’60s, from Liverpool and swinging London with its mod culture to the revelry of Beatlemania, all represented throughout the show. Umbrellas, children without faces, dancing instruments and those signature mop tops all make appearances.
During “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” Lucy does indeed fly in one of the most choreographed pieces in the show, with a cast in a kaleidoscope of colorful costumes. A Little Richard-esque character tap dances into a white puddle of light that splats as he jumps inside, a segue into “Lady Madonna.” Sgt. Pepper himself parades around the stage during a grim Dickens-esque scene during “Eleanor Rigby,” complete with bungee-jumping aerialists.
Other acts are seductive, such as the couple dancing to “Yesterday,” perhaps the most poignant point in the show, or the lovers in sweetly sorrowful “Blackbird.”
Several songs are new to the show, including “Twist and Shout” with some breakdancing, a Volkswagen Beetle “beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah-ing” across the stage and lots of twisting to boot.
Any ode to The Beatles should end with a rain of confetti and the 77 artists in the show parading about the stage to “Love Is All You Need.” Here’s to another 10 amazing years.
