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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Betting on the Beatles in Las Vegas
Friday, June 30, 2006
By Roger Friedman
Foxnews
Betting on the Beatles in Vegas
The Beatles take Las Vegas tonight. The only question is, will all the participants get along, or will their legendary feuds get in the way of a spectacular night?
Not only are Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr due in town tonight for the premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” at the Mirage Hotel, but so is George Harrison’s widow Olivia Harrison and son Dhani, John Lennon’s first wife Cynthia and her son Julian as well as Yoko Ono and her son Sean.
If it comes off, this would be the first-known gathering of these people anywhere at any time. And — as you may gather — this is not a happy family. Ono and McCartney barely speak, if at all. Ono and Cynthia Lennon have been enemies since Ono obstructed Julian Lennon’s access to his father’s estate for a long time.
A raft of other celebrities are scheduled to show up, too, including Blondie’s Debbie Harry (fresh from her nasty appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame dinner), Prince, Tony Bennett and Las Vegas’ first lady from the Rat Pack days, Phyllis McGuire.
But the Cirque du Soleil show is called “Love,” as in “All You Need Is Love,” and maybe the good feelings about the show’s success, not to mention the money it will generate for the Beatles, will heal old wounds. Anything is possible here in Las Vegas, where the nighttime temperature right now is a drowsy 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Love” is unique for many reasons, not the least of which is the price tag. It cost $120 million to rebuild the Mirage Theater when Siegfried & Roy left after their tiger accident. The show itself cost $30 million, we were told yesterday, with about $15 million more in production costs. That doesn’t include the price of licensing the Beatles music and original recordings, something that had not been allowed before this production.
Previously, theater or film producers could only try to get the rights to re-record the Beatles’ music. “Love” is a first in that includes the original recordings.
For purposes of theater staging, the recordings had to be “tweaked” by their original producer, Sir George Martin, and his son, Giles. Among the records used in the 90-minute show: "Hey Jude," "Something," "Here Comes the Sun," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," "Eleanor Rigby," "Help" and "A Hard Days’ Night."
But to make those recordings work with Martin’s approval wasn’t a simple process. He balked at some of the ideas. A reggae version of "Hey Jude" was rejected.
The egos were difficult to deal with, director Dominic Champagne told us yesterday, “but everybody was interested in the music.”
Martin played bits of what they were doing for everyone in London from time to time. ”What have you done now?” they’d ask in mock horror.
The show, says Champagne, is actually hanging on "Get Back," the first song all parties agreed would be included. And that’s kind of interesting, because “Get Back” features the late Billy Preston — who is not in the show.
“We knew we’d start with 'Get Back,' but then we had to think about what it meant,” he said. “We had to go back from there to the beginning, and then work through the Beatles’ story.”
Although some early songs are used, most of “Love,” is drawn from their later, more sophisticated works, like "Abbey Road" and "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band," Champagne said.
Meantime, how “Love” came about is a story of serendipity and good and bad luck. Apparently George Harrison — who never gets enough credit for his creative brainstorms — approached Guy Laliberte, the company’s founder, with an idea of some kind of collaboration.
When Siegfried & Roy was suddenly forced to close down, the Mirage reached out to Laliberte, who brought in the idea of a Beatles show. The project has not transformed this hotel, which had lost its trendiness. The hotel, which once sported an indoor rainforest, now seems energized as Beatlemania seeps into every area.
Originally, the plan was to use the existing theater, but then Champagne and his crew got the idea from “Get Back” to mimic the movie it appeared in, "Let it Be." Thus, the show is designed to look like the London rooftop where the final concert in "Let it Be" was performed. The theater has been reconfigured into a round, so that the audience feels like they are on other rooftops watching the concert, Champagne said.
The result is a whole new theater, and one not easily renovated again. Cirque du Soleil and the Mirage are obviously confident that have a hit on their hands.
Indeed, “Love” is the talk of Las Vegas right now.
“We think it will be here for a long time,” Champagne said yesterday.
If nothing else, it will bring the Beatles to a whole new audience. The director told us yesterday that when he started rehearsing with the cast of 63, many of them didn’t know much about the greatest rock band in history.
“They said, I know one of them is dead,” he reported. “Most of them are 22 or 23 years old. They didn’t know the songs.”
And that will change, too: Capitol is set to release a soundtrack for “Love” in November, just in time for Christmas. A new wave of Beatlemania is on its way.
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
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| glencar |
I hope the fur flies. Yoko will supply it! |
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| Jumping Jack |
Will Jack-Owe be there? |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
Jumping Jack wrote:
Will Jack-Owe be there?
I doubt it. From what I understand he doesn't like the States anymore. It seems he's looking to buy a palace or something in Europe. He'll fit right in...being Royalty and all. |
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| corgi37 |
Hey, what did Debbie Harry do???? |
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| SweetVirginia |
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
Hey, what did Debbie Harry do????
At the R&R Hall of Fame induction for Blondie,
she performed with her new band. During Blondie's
acceptace speach the former band members were very
vocal about not being allowed to perform. She shut
them down and went on with the new band.
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| gimmekeef |
I'd rather sit on Elton's knee while Celine Dion gouges my fuckin eyes out than attend this show! |
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| Dead_Flowers |
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
Hey, what did Debbie Harry do????
Here is a link to the video of them being inducted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPF_vsMwymQ |
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