The Beatles LOVE
70
Author's Note
The first performance of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque de Soleil was in 2006. I only discovered it this week, thanks to ProCW. The point is, it's new and exciting to me! Hence, I've written it as though it's being performed for the first time because for me, it might as well be.
*** Update - The Beatles LOVE by Cirque de Soleil trailers have been removed from YouTube, so are no longer available. Sorry, I removed them.
Cirque du Soleil - The Beatles LOVE - Short Trailer
The Beatles LOVE by Cirque de Soleil
Throughout the year 2009, a magical event is taking place in Las Vegas. An international cast of sixty have gathered to perform at the Mirage Hotel. They are members of the famed Cirque de Soleil and through the creative use of extreme sports, dancing, and trapeze work, they are honouring the music of my boys - The Beatles.
God bless 'em.
From what I can tell from the Cirque du Soleil and Mirage Hotel websites, as well as from all the videos that have been made, The Beatles LOVE promises to be an incredible, super high energy show. I don't think anyone will fall asleep! The non-stop action and colours alone are guaranteed to make it a memorable event. And then, of course, there's the music.
History in the Making
The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil represents the first time that the Fab Four's music has ever been used in a show.
_____________________________
"Cirque du Soleil is also overpoweringly moving. For it achieves the apparently impossible, allowing you to hear the Beatles with fresh ears.
Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph
The Music
Just knowing that The Beatles' music is being showcased so creatively is heartwarming enough, but it gets even better. The survivoring members of the Fab Four are involved! Paul and Ringo are in several of the videos in this hub, talking about the remixing of their original music, which was done by none other than Sir George Martin.
For those who don't know, Sir George produced The Beatles' original songs back in the sixties, when girls screamed and fainted over the Boys and their music. This time around, his son, Giles, worked at his side. The father and son team did such an excellent job, that they won awards for their work on the project.
From the Mirage Hotel website:
The soundtrack to the Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil won two Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Medium and Best Surround Sound Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards Sun, Feb. 10th, 2008. Ringo Starr, Sir George Martin, The Beatles legendary producer, and his son, Music Producer Giles Martin, accepted the award for Best Compilation Soundtrack.
When you're that good, does winning awards become tedious?
It's not really surprising that Sir George and Giles won awards for remastering The Beatles' songs. No one knows the Fab Four's music more or better than George Martin does. That's one of the reasons that he was asked to participate in The Beatles LOVE project.
To start the process of creating the music, the original reels of tape were removed from the vaults at The Abbey Road Studios. It was from these uncatalogued recordings that the Martin's drew their raw material and inspiration. Lyrics were taken from one song, strings from another, drum bits from here, a bass line from there. In the end, 26 songs were gleaned from 130 original recordings of beautiful music that was mixed up and presented as the same music interpreted in a different beautiful way. Whew! It took a couple of years, but the result was a flowing 78 minutes of modern perfection. After that, the Cirque de Soleil performers then had to illustrate their passion for the music with their bodies.
_______________________________________________________
The video below contains interview excerpts from Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Sir George Martin and his son, Giles Martin, Yoko (John Lennon's widow) and Olivia (George Harrison's widow) .
The History
The project arose from discussions in 2000[1] between George Harrison and his friend Guy Laliberté, one of Cirque's founders. Three years of negotiations between surviving members of The Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, The Beatles widows Olivia Harrison (representing George Harrison) and Yoko Ono (representing John Lennon), The Beatles' holding company Apple Corps Ltd. and the MGM Mirage culminated in an agreement.
The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil
 | Amazon Price: $1.49 List Price: $24.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $7.39 List Price: $18.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $8.33 List Price: $19.98 |
| Amazon Price: $16.99 List Price: $24.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $3.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $1.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $3.99 |
![LOVE [Vinyl]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Umkf0iEtL._SL75_.jpg) | Amazon Price: $27.31 List Price: $58.98 |
The Players
The highly energetic and talented cast is a culmination of separately hired acrobats, dancers and extreme sports people. Each plays a character part in putting energy and motion to the remastered music.
* Rehearsals took place in Montreal, and lasted eleven months before the premiere opening in Las Vegas.
The Venue
The Beatles LOVE is performed exclusively in a custom designed theatre at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was built for this show and is appropriately named, the Love Theatre.
There are 6,341 speakers in the Love Theatre. Each of the 2,013 seats are fitted with three, two of which are in the headrest. The sound is said to be of unbelievable quality.
The stage is centrally located, surrounded by the seating.
High definition projectors handle the enormous images that are shown on the walls and four translucent screens. A visual extravaganza!
And In The End
The Beatles LOVE by Cirque de Soleil promises to be an awe inspiring, magnificent culmination of talents and artistry. It is making history. Never before have The Beatles allowed their music to be remixed and used in this manner.
Personally, I find it very exciting to know that they have collaborated, once again, with Sir George Martin. It feels to me like the old days, but with a new twist.
Funny, it never occured to me when I was watching The Beatles for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, that I would still be watching them all these decades later. I loved them then and I love them now. It's good to be a Beatlemaniac.
Happy Valentine's Day to my Boys! With LOVE, of course.
The Beatles LOVE
- Las Vegas Hotels - The Mirage Resort and Casino
The Mirage's guest rooms feature rich hues and imported fabrics in a refined atmosphere of sophisticated comfort. - The Beatles REVOLUTION Lounge
Cirque du Soleil
 | Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $19.94 |
 | Amazon Price: $12.40 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $9.74 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $10.45 List Price: $19.99 |
The Beatles
 | Amazon Price: $12.68 List Price: $24.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $148.75 List Price: $259.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $8.98 List Price: $18.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $5.99 |
Happy Valentine's Day!
Please Visit the History & Making of The Beatles LOVE Below This Comment BoxLoading...
Hey not fear Christoph... I was reading it while you were writing the comment :-P
My husband and I saw this in 2007 an dit was amazing! Thank you for the excellent hub!
VERY WELL DONE! Shirley, you've outdone yourself!!!
Cirque is doing the Beatles' entire career in 78 minutes??? WOW!!!!! :)
acrobatics - OMG!
dancing - GREAT!
---
THANK YOU SHIRLEY FOR SHARING THE LOVE!
---
Other visitors: You too can share YOUR love with Shirley, by simply clicking the green thumbs up button above! I did!
ProCW
Okay, no fighting you guys! Christoph called dibbs on first.
Princessa is second, but only because she took the time to check over the quality of the content. Very important, makes me nervous!
RVilleneuve, I am soooo jealous! Are you one of the people who put their videos on YouTube? Quite a few people posted their vids on their after taking in the show. It just looks so incredible! Thanks for letting me know that it really is as amazing as it seems!
ProCW, no wonder you are the President of my fanclub!! I think I should appoint you Director of Marketing too, double your salary. :) Thanks for the fantastic comment, and the thumbs up!
Hi Shirley! So this is where you've been! Really excellent work! I am a huge Beatles fan (in fact I just listened to Sgt. Pepper a couple of days ago!) You really put in a lot of work on this. I'll have to come back to finish the 6 part documentary at the end.
Oddly, this is the first I've ever heard about this project (which surprises the dickens out of me!) so you have really created a huge excitement and anticipation for me. I can't wait to hear the soundtrack! It sounds so great. All those geniuses working on one project. George Martin is awesome! (I don't use that word too often) and so is this hub! Thank you for putting it together. I was totally captivated.
Thanks for writing this!
Thank-you, Christoph! I hadn't heard of it either, until ProCW emailed me to let me know about it. How could something this huge be going on for years and neither one of us Beatlemaniacs knew a thing about it?? That's just messed up!
There was a ton of information. Originally, I had figured this to be 500 words more than it is, but opted for the shortcut version so I could get it into the HubMob listing.
George Martin is an incredible talent! I watched his face in the videos as he was talking about the music. Maybe it's just my perspective, but he seemed to be feeling nostalgic, I thought. That added some extra little bonus element for me. Made the whole thing seem even a little more special. It also made me realize that this is probably the last Beatles creative work that will ever be produced. I could cry.
Thank-you for your wonderful comments! Captivated - I love that word!
I'm surprised you hadn't heard of it either. At least I don't feel so stupid (now we can be stupid together! Hah!)
Hi Shirley, I love the Beatles and Cirque de so leil... dayzeebee and I would wish one day we could really watch their shows- LIVE! :) Thumbs up!
What I don't understand is why one of them didn't call to let us know. I'm a little hurt, actually.
Paul usually calls me before he even goes to the bathroom. Unbelievable!
Hi Michelle! I think the Angels should all meet up in Las Vegas and go see it!! I think that is a GREAT idea!
Okay, Christoph! Now, I'm really jealous! Paul never calls to let me know that he's going to the bathroom.
I am now educated! The venue sounds amazing, I bet this is a wonderful show to see live. I will live and dream :) Thanks Shirley ... this is a thumbs up for sure. Take care.
Thanks, How To Hub! I'll be dreaming, as well....hope one of us makes it there. Thanks for the thumbs up, too.
Great hub Shirley. I wold love to see this show.
wow what an amazing show...it would be great to see it..wow...what people can do is amazing...Nice coverage on this hub and Thanks for all this was so interesting and brought back so many good memories to me...G-Ma :o) Hugs & Peace
Thanks, Susan! I'd love to see the show, too. My sisters and I won $5 on 649 last night, so a third of that's mine! I'll get the show in no time at that rate. :)
It would be great, G-Ma! I've never been fond of circuses, but the video trailer of the show makes it look amazing. Coupled with The Beatles' music, that sort of makes it perfect for me.
Thanks for the kind words! Glad the memories it brought back are good ones.
This is very cool, Shirly. I love Cirque, I love the Beatles. What a combo. A friend of mine (ex student from Calgary area) is the Head Coach for Cirque Americas. I'll have to wangle some tickets and get myself down to Vegas to see it. He was the coach for O, and I'd like to see that too. Seen good clips of it. Amazing. But, the Beatles…!
I saw a segment on the news about this a few weeks ago. Looks like lots of fun. Now if I can only get to Vegas without the wife complaining about it.
"Honey, I'm off to a Hubbers Convention!"
Hi Shirley, wow the Beatles and Cirque! Oh this is one show I would love to see live indeed! I got glued to the videos. Love knowing how they got it all together. Got goose bumps. Got all excited. Got into it. Thumbs up for a great hub! I'm still high.LOL
Wow, Bruce, you have a good connection there! Sooo, how many tickets do you think your friend can spare for your Hub friends?? :) And you're right - The Beatles show wins, hands down over any other! Thanks for coming by.
Don't worry, Joe! I'll back ya up.
Yeah, Hubber's convention. We always have it at the Mirage Hotel. Every year. Yeah, sure, just ask anybody. See? No worries, I'll convince her, just give her my link and tell her to ask. You're welcome.
Daisy, hi! Ah, yes, I'll bet it got the stage director in you going. I told Michelle that the Angels should meet in Vegas and go to the show. I have $1.66 saved so far. :)
It took 500 people to put that show together, apparently. It's quite something. They rehearsed here in Canada for 11 months before they went to Vegas.
I'm with you - those videos got me very excited about this!
Thanks for coming by, Daisy, and the thumbs up!
One more reason to party in Vegas! I could use a party week! Or a few days, even.
I was one of those screaming girls in Jr. high school who LOVED the beatles and collected Beatle Cards. So many memories; so long ago! I'm glad their music lives on and Cirque would be an amazing show to see!!!
I love the Beatles, so this one was a great sound to the ears.
Extremely cool! I actually heard about this show several years ago and I saw Cirque do an incredible performance on an awards show. The soundtrack is something I may have to get!
Oh Madison, I like how you think! I could use a party month or year, myself! I too, was one of those crazed Beatlemaniacs in my (much) younger years. I don't seem to have outgrown it. :)
SweetiePie, it always makes me happy to hear someone say they love The Beatles! Glad you like the remixed music.
CW, if you do get the LOVE soundtrack, please let me know what you think. I'm one of those people that prefer originals, so I'm not 100% sure if I'd cry at hearing the changes to their music. I have to say though, that the videos make the show sound incredible. At least one of the commentors here said that she saw it and it was amazing, so odds are I would like the CD, too.
Thanks for coming by, all!
What I heard during the performance was awesome... better than I remembered the beatles sounding. Is that possible?
You would probably be able to download the soundtrack at bitTorrent.com
Shirley Anderson you are awesome. This hub is a big WOW,,,Whew, good for you. I am shocked to how the rehersals were in Canada and the opening was in Las Vegas and neither one of us heard of 'The Beatles Love' like it's never been heard before by Cirque de Soleil. How as this possible.
Just back in May I was doing research and part of it was on the Mirage in Las Vegas. No mention of this show! This was a very well kept secret. If this wasn't a secret me or you would have known.
I really am enjoying this. I do have to get back over to your V-Day the HubMob Way and vote this hub phenominal...... as my body rocks on over....Here comes the Sun..it's alright...la la la la la. Do I have to leave. Thanks Angel Shirley, I'll be back!
*gasp!* CW - Better than The Beatles?!? That's just not possible! It's just the modern equipment that wasn't available back in the day. Wow, that got my attention.
Hey, thanks for the download tip!!
Dottie, you're extremely awesome, yourself!
I really don't know how on earth this whole thing was kept secret from the likes of you, me and Christoph. It's a big conspiracy of some sort. Wonder why it is not better known? Perhaps it's such a phenominal hit that they don't need to advertise....yet. When everybody's seen it and ticket sales drop, then mass advertising might begin.
Actually, ProCW is the one that found it. He emailed me the link to let me know that it existed.
Thanks for the phenominal vote!! Hey, guess what - I thought your V-Day hub was phenominal, too.
Here Comes the Sun has been stuck in my head for the last couple of days. Great song. Looking forward to your return! oo (2 hugs)
I loved reading this! I'm new to Hub Pages, and articles like yours are fuel for my Hub fire! Cannot wait to read and write more. Coincidentally, I was raised on the Beatles, and I am thinking of taking my parents to see this show. I am sure my dad will unabashedly scream and cry like one of the original Beatles teenage groupie girls. :-) Thanks so much for such a cool, informative article! I am emailing it to him right now!
I'm glad that you enjoyed it, MomZof3! I hope that your dad will, too.
I love hearing someone say that they love The Beatles! The more Beatlemaniacs, the better. Wish I could see your dad screaming and crying like those teenage girls, that'd be so funny! Take videos, okay? You could write a hub about the experience, I'd really like to read that. :)
Welcome to HP. You'll love it here!
I just found your hub. Good Stuff. I voted and have a review on the surround version of LOVE on my hubs. Let me know what you think? Thanks
Hi shirley, I really enjoyed your hub. I have the dvd of 'love', but I hope one day to see the show. It looks awesome! I first saw The Beatles on tv at their Royal variety performance in 1963 when I was 5. Although I like many other groups, they remain my undisputed all time favorite band!
All the best,
steve
Thanks for your comment and vote, Music Messenger! Your review of the surround version of Love sounds like it's going to be an interesting read.
Hi, Steve. So nice to meet another Beatlemaniac! As soon as I saw your name, couldn't help but think of the Traveling Wilburys. :) Only one Beatle in that group but I love the music, all the same.
Like you, there are a lot of groups that I like and listen to but NOBODY can replace The Fab Four. They are and always will be my number one!
Thanks so much for dropping by, Steve and MM.
The videos below are all one documentary on the making of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. Each video leads to next.
1The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil - How They Made the Music
2The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil - The Director/Writer's Vision
3The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil - Sir George Martin Adds a Custom Score
4The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil - Making It As 'Live' as Possible
5The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil
6The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil
Christoph Reilly Level 2 Commenter 3 years ago
I'm first! I'll be back after I've read it!