Beatles' extravaganza is a magical mystery tour you'll never forget

The Cirque du Soleil's $150 million extravaganza set to the songs of the Beatles has met with rave reviews from critics today ahead of its gala premiere tonight.

The circus spectacular called LOVE, which premieres tonight at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, will be attended by remaining Beatles Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison's widow Olivia and also Yoko Ono.

It is, astonishingly, the first time the Beatles have allowed their music - including some previously unheard tracks - to be performed in a show.

And critics worldwide have showered the extravaganza with plaudits.

The Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer described the show as "ravishing and almost indecently spectacular."

"Cirque du Soleil is also overpoweringly moving. For it achieves the apparently impossible, allowing you to hear the Beatles with fresh ears.

"At times you seem to be listening to the music of your childhood and youth as if for the first time," he wrote enthusiastically.

"The sound is like a dream come true."

The Toronto Star's critic Richard Ouzounian described it as "sheer bliss" and a "magical mystery tour you'll never forget."

Ouzounian added: "It is undoubtedly the most unabashedly joyous show in this organisation's history.

"LOVE is not only a satisfying artistic and original piece of entertainment in its own right, but it honours the musical integrity of the Fab Four in a way that few other shows ever have."

The show, which was born out of a friendship between the late George Harrison and Guy Laliberte, founder of the Canadian acrobatic troupe, takes its audience on a part-chronological, part-fantasy journey through the life and times of the four young men from Liverpool who inspired Beatlemania.

Performed in a custom-built, 2,000-seat theatre, the audience is treated to high-wire acrobats, break dancers, trampoline artists and skaters whom bring life to characters such as Sgt. Pepper, Lady Madonna and the sea world of Octopus's Garden in a visual feast of colour, light and adventure.

Some of the wondrous scenes include Lucy swooping on a trapeze across a sky twinkling with diamonds, Mr Kite presiding over a psychedelic circus of stiltwalkers and acrobats, and there is also the unmistakable voices of John, Paul, George and Ringo filling the surround sound-equipped arena.

For avid Beatles fans, the real star of the show is the music - some 130 songs re-mixed, mashed up and born again with a clarity never heard before.

Sir George Martin, who helped produce the show said: "We wanted to make sure there are enough good, solid hit songs in the show but we didn't want it to be a catalog of 'best ofs'. We also wanted to put in some interesting and not well-known Beatles music and use fragments of songs."

Martin, who worked on every Beatles album except Let It Be, and his son Giles Martin spent two years working from the original master tapes of The Beatles sessions to produce a 90-minute soundtrack that is played through six speakers in the back of each seat as well as a panoramic sound system.

The sound is so clear, McCartney's Yesterday feels so close you can hear the strings of his acoustic guitar snapping on the neck.

Meanwhile, well-known songs like Revolution and Come Together are remixed with snippets from other Beatles hits while tracks like Get Back and Within You, Without You are intermingled.

"The last thing we wanted to create was a retrospective or a tribute show," Giles Martin added.

McCartney and Ringo Starr, who have already seen the show in preview, were closely involved in the project as were Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono.

The idea of teaming up with Cirque du Soleil first came from Harrison before his death in 2001.

It was pursued by his widow and got the go-ahead from Apple Corps Ltd, the English company that administers The Beatles' interests, in 2002.

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