Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” provides electrifying visuals of an Octopus’s Garden and much more

How is it that the explosive convergence of kinetic, creative and dramatic energy generated by Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” has not launched the Love Theater into orbit like the many mushroom clouds so familiar to Vegas of the 1950s? It’s because this Cirque production succeeds so well, that even an earth-rattling atomic explosion won’t separate it from the destiny of audiences whose beautiful fate is to experience this 90-minute tribute to Beatles music.

But it’s more than simply a musical tribute to a four-member band: this production is a keen example of a globally recognized performing troupe that has redefined theatre and expanded the definition of artistry and athlete.

During Love, exceedingly inventive visuals take center stage or appear suddenly then vanish quickly or perhaps slowly into one of four wings surrounding this theater-in-the-round. The on-stage interpretations are ingeniously matched to cues, references or themes in the Beatles music collection.

A most literal example of the above mentioned “explosive convergence” takes shape when Cirque performers mark the embryonic (and this must truly be understood to mean the very beginning of the group at least in the caase of Paul and George) years of the British invasion if not a key event in the German onslaught during the second world war. In fact, a multimedia recreation of the London Blitz and the ensuing post-war reconstruction is so skillfully dramatized, only the very mindful will remember to connect the appropriate dots to the genesis of the Mop Tops at the end of the scene.

Measured by their involvement and participation, the audience is not just present during this masterful production, but alert and altogether responsive to Beatles classics that have been remastered specifically for Love. The Dolby sound is simply smashing.

And yet, it’s the stage interpretation and imagery à la Cirque du Soleil that morphs the Beatles repertoire into fantastic visual stimuli: you’re not listening to music; you’re watching a music story unfold that is far beyond the boundaries of a one-dimensional, MTV-style video.

Love is conceivably like watching Beatles music on acid. Did someone place electrodes on writer and director Dominic Champagne’s temples and then pass the blotter paper? This may certainly explain “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and it’s head-tripping, otherworldly machinations. But a more likely, post-hippie explanation would be that the presence of spectacular, highly-detailed visuals in “Lady Madonna,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Help,” “Octopus’s Garden” and many more are simply the result of the finely tuned, creative genius behind Champagne and his Cirque collaborators.

Cirque du Soleil’s Love is nothing less than outstanding. It’s a sensory experience that draws from inspired choreography, stunning artistry, highly imaginative costuming, tireless athleticism, and inventive set-design—the stage itself should be cast as a performer. The multimedia treatments are wonderful enhancements to the story. You’ll even hear and see the Fab Four via (what else) a unique Cirque treatment.

So if you spot a mushroom cloud during your Las Vegas visit, it won’t be the Nevada Test Site and you’re probably not on acid. It’s just that the circus came to town. The Canadian circus.

By Jay Barber, Catalina Media Group