The title of the new Beatles-themed Cirque du Soleil show was obvious all along, co-creator Gilles Ste-Croix said. "From the first song to the last, it's always been about love."
Hence, "Love" is the simple title of the Strip's fifth Cirque show, which starts ticketed previews at The Mirage on June 2 and throws its opening-night gala June 30. Tickets went on sale Wednesday, with prices from $69 to $150. In a first for a Las Vegas Cirque production, preview performances will be discounted 25 percent.
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"The current of the '60s, of that generation coming to age, was love," Ste-Croix said Wednesday. "We tried to make a difference, to make a better world. I think that's what the music of the Beatles was trying to do. I think with this show, we're trying to carry that to a new generation."
The collaboration between Cirque and Apple Corps Ltd., which manages the Beatles' business interests, was announced in October 2004 with a working title of "The Boys." It stemmed from a friendship between Cirque founder Guy Laliberte and the late George Harrison, who shared an interest in Formula One racing.
"Love" is the first theatrical production sanctioned by Apple Corps, and its musical director is George Martin, the producer often called "the fifth Beatle."
Martin and his son, Giles, scoured the Beatles catalog for source material, and many of the songs will be edited into montages. The music will be released as a soundtrack album. "We didn't go for the 'best of,' but rather what would be the 'best for' the show, Ste-Croix said.
The theater formerly used by Siegfried & Roy was reconfigured to seat 2,013 people in-the-round, with two 20-by-103-foot-wide screens nearly wrapping the room in high-definition video projections. The sound pours from 6,500 speakers, including three in each individual seat.
"The audience will really be in the show," Ste-Croix said. "It's 360 degrees, but the stage is small, only about as big as a tennis court. ... We wanted to have the people feeling like the Beatles are in the room. We wanted the people to be in Abbey Road studio when the song was recorded."
Ste-Croix said the new show is "much more human-performance-oriented" than Cirque's epic "Ka" at the MGM Grand. "But it will still have more automation cues than 'Ka,' " he said, "because we have no backstage." Performers ascend from floor lifts and drop from the ceiling.
Cirque spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne said at least 72 seats for each performance will sell for $69 because "the Beatles' appeal is so broad, that coming out of the gate we wanted to make sure it was absolutely accessible to everyone."
Other tickets for the show sell for $99, $125 and $150.
