New songs and mixes for Love

From the Las Vegas Beatles show “Love” by Cirque du Soleil.

As previously reported, Cirque du Soleil’s production of The Beatles show “Love” is undergoing changes for the show’s tenth anniversary. “Love” director Dominic Champagne talked to the Montreal Gazette about what’s been done; what’s new and what has been taken out.

The show has currently taken a three week break while being renewed, and the refreshed “Love” will première on February 25. There’s not going to be a big opening, but the participants will continue to tinker with the production in the months to come, in preparation for an official 10th-anniversary red carpet première in July (postponed from the previous announcement of June) with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono attending.

Sound bites and video

There were sound bites of the Beatles in the original show; one of the big changes is that there will be more of them now, and much more video of the four band members. “They’ll be more present via imagery,” said Champagne. “A year and a half ago, they gave us access to their entire audio-visual library, which was not the case in the very beginning.”

Acrobatics

“Love” is one of the least acrobatic Cirque shows, but Champagne feels the time is right to add a couple of big acrobatic numbers.

Music

There will also be a few changes in the music. Giles Martin is also doing new remixes of the songs, taking into account changes in technology over the past decade. Champagne didn’t want to reveal too much, but did say that “Twist and Shout” has been added and “I Am the Walrus” dropped. “Twist and Shout” was in the initial plan for “Love”, but the Beatles didn’t have the right to use it at the time because it’s not their original song. “It’s such a strong vocal performance from Lennon, and it’s the kind of song you’d hear at a 30-year-old’s wedding today,” said Champagne. “We hope that the Cirque du Soleil dancers will relaunch the twist with the act.”

Source: Montreal Gazette