The End of Love for The Mirage

All Things Must Pass. It will soon be over for the LOVE performance at The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas. It was originally George Harrison who took the initiative for the acrobatic Beatles show, but he did not live long enough to see it become a reality in 2006. The final show will take place on Ringo’s birthday, 7 July 2024.

Probably the last known photo of George and Paul together. This is supposed to be backstage at a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas in December 2000.

The music in the performance are original compositions and recordings of The Beatles, which Giles Martin and his father George Martin put together and mashed up for the occasion. Some of this material was released on a separate Beatles album in 2006. The hall was specially built for the performance, in a circular arena with an unrivaled surround sound system at the time, where speakers are also mounted at ear level in each individual seat. Among the most exiting things to experience is dialogue between The Beatles members in the studio, taken from the session tapes. Oh, and the acrobatics are quite stunning, as well.

The reason given is that the hotel that houses the performance – The Mirage – is being converted into a Hard Rock Café hotel. It is actually the same reason that led to rumors about the show’s end in May 2022. At the time, however, it was only an artificial volcano outside the hotel which was to be removed.

“LOVE” was reportedly running between 40- and 60-percent capacity in its 2,013-seat theater. That is the lowest box-office performance of Cirque’s six productions on the Strip. It seems to us that the show needs to tour, in order to broaden its appeal. Many other Cirque du Soleil shows do tour.

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison have visited the show several times to celebrate the show’s gala premiere, anniversaries and when they just happen to be in town. We wonder if some of them will be present on July 7?

“The Beatles LOVE has been seen by more than 11.5 million guests since opening in 2006,” said Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group CEO Stéphane Lefebvre. “It’s been an honor for all of us at Cirque du Soleil to collaborate with The Beatles and Apple Corps Ltd. on what can only be described as a masterpiece. We are grateful to the creators, cast, crew and all involved in bringing this show to life and we know The Beatles LOVE will live on long after the final bow.”

Even though confirming that there are no plans to tour “Love,” Lefebvre said to Las Vegas Review Journal, “if it has a life beyond this venue, it will need to change the format a little bit. The theater is so unique, it’s a 360-degree stage and very deep. If we want to move it elsewhere, if we look at somewhere in Europe, we need to make some significant changes.”