Love | |
---|---|
Company | Cirque du Soleil |
Genre | Contemporary circus |
Show type | Resident show |
Date of premiere | June 30, 2006 |
Final show | July 7, 2024 |
Location | The Mirage, Las Vegas |
Creative team | |
Director | Dominic Champagne |
Artistic guide | Gilles Ste-Croix |
Creation director | Chantal Tremblay |
Theatre and set designer | Jean Rabasse |
Costume designer | Philippe Guillotel |
Music by | The Beatles |
Remixed by | George Martin Giles Martin |
Lighting designer | Yves Aucoin |
Sound designer | Jonathan Deans |
Dialog editor | François Pérusse |
Choreographers | Dave St-Pierre Hansel Cereza Daniel Cola |
Makeup designer | Nathalie Gagné |
Projections designer | Francis Laporte |
Set, props and puppets | Michael Curry Patricia Ruel |
Rigging designer | Guy St-Amour |
Other information | |
Preceded by | Delirium (2006) |
Succeeded by | Koozå (2007) |
Official website |
Love was a 2006 theatrical production by Cirque du Soleil which combined the re-produced and re-imagined music of the Beatles with an interpretive, circus-based artistic and athletic stage performance. The show played at a specially built theatre at the Mirage in Las Vegas.
A joint venture between Cirque and the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd, it was the first theatrical production with which Apple Corps Ltd. partnered. Love was written and directed by Dominic Champagne. George Martin, producer of nearly all of the Beatles' records, and his son, record producer Giles Martin, were credited as music directors. A soundtrack album of the show was released in November 2006.
On April 10, 2024, Cirque du Soleil announced that the show was ending with a final performance on July 7, Ringo Starr’s 84th birthday. The Mirage will be redeveloped as a Hard Rock Cafe hotel and casino reopening in 2027. The Love Theatre will not be rebuilt in the new hotel, and no plans have been announced to reboot Love elsewhere. [1]
The project arose from discussions in 2000 [2] between George Harrison and his friend Guy Laliberté, one of Cirque's founders. Three years of negotiations between surviving band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Beatles widows Olivia Harrison (representing George Harrison) and Yoko Ono (representing John Lennon), as well as Beatles' holding company Apple Corps Ltd. and the Mirage culminated in an agreement.
The first executive producer was Neil Aspinall, then-manager of Apple Corps Ltd. Dominic Champagne shared show concept creator credit with Gilles Ste-Croix (a founder of Cirque). The creation director was Chantal Tremblay.
Tickets went on sale April 19, 2006. Preview performances ran from June 2 to June 29. In attendance at the gala opening on June 30 were McCartney, Starr, Ono, Cynthia Lennon, Julian Lennon, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, and George Martin. It was the biggest reunion of the Beatles' 'family' since the band's breakup. At the end of the show, McCartney, Starr, Olivia, Ono, and Martin went onstage.[ citation needed ]
On June 26, 2007, key parties met for the first anniversary of the show at the Mirage. McCartney, Starr, Olivia and Ono were interviewed by CNN's Larry King shortly before the show began. The group unveiled a plaque at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas in memory of John Lennon and George Harrison.
Starting in late October 2010, Cirque du Soleil offered backstage tours of the Love Theatre. The experience allowed visitors to see the backstage wings, training rooms, costume workshop, and break area and go up to a catwalk into the sound and lighting booths. Not every experience was the same; the tour was conducted around a "regular day", so performers may have been training, rehearsing, or working out. [3] [4]
Leading up to the show's 10th anniversary in July 2016, producers updated the production, making changes to imagery, costumes, and acts, as well as adding and removing some music. [5]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was shut down from March 2020 until August 2021. [6] [7]
Created by French designer Jean Rabasse, the Love Theatre at the Mirage housed 6,351 speakers and 2,013 seats set around a central stage. Each seat was fitted with three speakers, [8] including a pair in the headrest. The sound system was designed by Jonathan Deans. The stage included 11 lifts, 4 traps, and 13 automated tracks and trolleys. Each lift was capable of lifting 20,000 pounds.
The Love Theatre featured 32 digital projectors. Video was digital from source-to-screen with high-definition 100’-wide panoramic images. Digital displays on two walls above the audience emphasized elements of the show and provided transitions. High-definition projectors also created enormous images (designed by Francis Laporte) on four translucent screens that could be unfurled to divide the auditorium.
The Love Theatre, which replaced the Siegfried & Roy theater at the Mirage, was said to have cost more than $100 million. The venue was set up as a circular theatre in the round with seats 360 degrees around the stage. There were four balconies, and the furthest seat was only 98 feet from the center of the stage.[ citation needed ] The closest seat was 23 feet, 4 inches from the center of the stage and 2 feet, 9 inches from the edge of the stage.[ citation needed ]
The loose story of the production traced the Beatles' biography in broad strokes from the Blitz through the band's founding and climb into superstardom, their psychedelic and spiritual works, and their break-up in 1970. The finale was a joyous celebration of The Beatles' "reunion" that the show itself represented.
Love traced this path without relying on literal or historical representations of individual people. Its landscape was inhabited by fictional characters plucked from the Beatles' lyrics. Sgt. Pepper, a central figure, encountered such characters as Lucy in the Sky, Eleanor Rigby, Lady Madonna, and Mr. Kite. In exceptions to this stylistic choice, the "Here Comes the Sun" scene featured a character resembling Krishna, and several scenes included mop-topped, dark-haired figures in black suits who resembled the early Beatles. The international cast totaled 65 performers.
Love had a plethora of characters inspired by the music of the Beatles. [9]
Love featured elaborate choreography and various acrobatic and aerial performances. [10]
Philippe Guilottel, Love's costume designer, wanted to infuse the same spirit of the Beatles into the costumes for Love. Many garbs included juxtaposed elements such as traditional and Victorian fashions combined with colorful, imaginative designs. Many of the costumes were highly sophisticated and voluminous, almost as if taken from a cartoon. For example, Savile Row tailoring traditions were utilized for the Sgt. Pepper Parade, turning the outfits inside out. [11]
Unlike most other Cirque productions, which feature live music, Love used prerecorded material from the Beatles' catalog. Many of the original Abbey Road Studios recording session tapes were re-orchestrated and inspired the show's dance, acrobatics, visual and theatrical effects. George Martin, the Beatles' original producer, and his son Giles Martin worked with the entire archive of Beatles recordings to create the musical component for Love. The result was an unprecedented approach to the music for a stage production. Love sampled 120 songs to create 27 musical pieces. The songs were mixed so that the lyrics and instrumentation from one song blended into the next.
One musical highlight of the show was a new version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which matched the first studio demo of the song with a string arrangement written for Love by George Martin; it was the only new piece of music in the show. [12] A commercial soundtrack of the show was released in November 2006.
A documentary on the making of Love titled All Together Now was released on October 20, 2008. [13]
The following scenes from Love are included in Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away :
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionized many aspects of the music industry and were often publicized as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.
Neil Stanley Aspinall was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps.
"Get Back" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Beatles and Billy Preston, written by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston". The song is one of the few examples of John Lennon featuring prominently as lead guitarist. The album version of this song contains a different mix that features a studio chat between Paul McCartney and John Lennon at the beginning, which lasts for 20 seconds before the song begins, also omitting the coda featured in the single version, and with a final dialogue taken from the Beatles' rooftop concert. This version became the closing track of Let It Be (1970), which was released just after the group split up. The single version was later issued on the compilation albums 1967–1970, 20 Greatest Hits, Past Masters, and 1.
Apple Records is a British record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger and Billy Preston. In practice, the roster had become dominated by the mid-1970s with releases of the former Beatles as solo artists. Allen Klein managed the label from 1969 to 1973, then it was managed by Neil Aspinall on behalf of the Beatles and their heirs. Aspinall retired in 2007 and was replaced by Jeff Jones.
"How Do You Sleep?" is a song by English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album Imagine.
"Getting Better" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written mainly by Paul McCartney, with some of the lyrics written by John Lennon, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.
"Carnival of Light" is an unreleased avant-garde recording by the English rock band the Beatles. It was commissioned for the Million Volt Light and Sound Rave, an event held at the Roundhouse in London on 28 January and 4 February 1967. Recorded during a session for the song "Penny Lane", "Carnival of Light" is nearly 14 minutes long and contains distorted, echo-laden sounds of percussion, keyboards, guitar and vocals. Its creation was initiated by Paul McCartney's interest in the London avant-garde scene and through his connection with the design firm Binder, Edwards & Vaughan.
"Glass Onion" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. The song was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney, and released in 1967 on the album of the same name. The song appears twice on the album: as the opening track, and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the penultimate track. As the title song, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs on the album.
Giles Martin is an English record producer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. His studio recordings, stage shows, TV and film works have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful around the world. He is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and half-brother of actor Gregory Paul Martin.
The Beatles were an English rock band, active from 1960 until 1970. From 1962 onwards, the band's members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Their break-up is attributed to numerous factors, including: the strain of the Beatlemania phenomenon, the 1967 death of their manager Brian Epstein, bandmates' resentment of McCartney's perceived domineering behaviour, Lennon's heroin use and his relationship with Yoko Ono, Harrison's increasingly prolific songwriting, the floundering of Apple Corps, the Get Back project and managerial disputes.
"I'm the Greatest" is a song written by English musician John Lennon that was released as the opening track of the 1973 album Ringo by Ringo Starr. With Starr, Lennon and George Harrison appearing on the track, it marks the only time that three former Beatles recorded together between the band's break-up in 1970 and Lennon's death in 1980. Lennon wrote the song in December 1970 as a wry comment on his rise to fame, and later tailored the lyrics for Starr to sing. Named after one of Muhammad Ali's catchphrases, the song partly evokes the stage-show concept of the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Love is a soundtrack remix album of music recorded by the Beatles, released in November 2006. It features music compiled and remixed as a mashup for the Cirque du Soleil show Love. The album was produced by George Martin and his son Giles Martin, who said, "What people will be hearing on the album is a new experience, a way of re-living the whole Beatles musical lifespan in a very condensed period."
The Beatles Anthology is a documentary television series on the career of the Beatles. It was broadcast on UK television in six parts on ITV between 26 November and 31 December 1995, while in the United States it was seen as three feature-length episodes on ABC between 19 and 23 November 1995. It was released in greatly expanded form as an eight-volume VHS set and an eight-disc LaserDisc set on 5 September 1996. The series was re-released on DVD in 2003, with an 81-minute special-features disc.
All Together Now is a 2008 feature-length documentary that chronicles the making of the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil collaboration project Love. The film details the story behind the unique partnership between the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and launch of the Love stage show and the double Grammy-winning album of the same name. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, a former assistant to the band and eventual head of Apple Corps, who died in March that year.
The Beatles were originally a quartet, but only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr remain.
The Beatles were a rock group from Liverpool, England. This timeline chronicles their activities.
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The Beatles: Get Back is a documentary television series directed and produced by Peter Jackson. It covers the making of the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be and draws largely from unused footage and audio material originally captured for and recycled original footage from the 1970 documentary of the album by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The docuseries has a total runtime of nearly eight hours, consisting of three episodes, each of duration between two and three hours covering about one week each, together covering 21 days of studio time.
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