LOVE Cirque du Soleil

Magical mystery tour

By Caroline Fontein

Cirque du Soleil's LOVE at the Mirage takes audiences on a magical journey through the fantastical world depicted by the timeless music of the Beatles. Acrobatics, aerialists and a cast of colorful, intriguing characters combine to create a mystifying visual pared with the already sensational soundtrack.

As the show starts the song, “Get Back,” fills the theater and screens hanging over the stage disappear to reveal an explosion of lights, colors and performers running on and off the stage and hanging in mid-air. It is a phenomenal spectacle enhanced by the constant moving and transformation of the stage. The different elements create a masterpiece of sound, lights and live performances.

Apart from just the unique performers and music this extravagant production also has a specially designed stage. The innovative LOVE Theater has all of its 2000-seats situated around the stage with the farthest one only 98 feet away from it. The 360 degree seating gives each person a unique view of the varied performers as they appear from all directions during the show.

“Eleanor Rigby” brings an even more eclectic ensemble of characters onto the stage. Some of them are cute and others have a more haunting appearance. People leave and enter at every angle which creates a captivating and continuously transforming landscape of performers.

Men on stilts and other absurd characters parade onto the stage creating and all out circus as “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” reverberates throughout the theater. A swing is lowered from the ceiling with a man on it who swings higher and higher until he makes a complete circle. People in the audience gasp in disbelief as the male performer defies gravity by swinging upside down above the stage.

This is one of several awe inspiring acts that will take your breath away during the show.

The different scenes loosely narrate the Beatles’ beginnings as young boys in Liverpool to the rise of Beatlemania and how their music was influenced by the evolving political and social culture of the turbulent ’60s and beyond.

“Lady Madonna,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Revolution” and other Beatles’ songs are played as the LOVE performers create a series of extravagant scenes. Clips of the actually Beatles, played on 20-foot-high by 100-foot wide screens, are woven into these performances for a fantastical combination of reality versus the imaginative characters in LOVE.

LOVE , directed by Dominic Champagne, started out as collaboration between George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil’s Guy LaLiberte. After Harrison’s death in 2001, the remaining Beatles and their families worked together to bring Harrison’s vision to life.

Sir George Martin, known for his work producing the Beatles’ music, is the music director for LOVE, along with his son Giles. Their clever song selection paired with the theater's phenomenal sound system, consisting of 6,341 speakers, makes guests feel as though they are immersed in everything Beatles through both the visuals and the music. Each seat has three speakers, two in the headrest and one in the seat in front of you.

You have most likely heard all of the Beatles’ music before, but never like how it is played for you in LOVE. The dreamlike visuals combined with the memorable music create a unique experience where fans old and new can relish in their love for the Beatles.