It's Rubber du Souleil as Beatles go Las Vegas

The irony is not lost on Guy Laliberte, founder and creative titan behind Cirque du Soleil, that 39 years after John Lennon cribbed the lyrics of an antique circus poster for his "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," The Beatles would be the composers and performers in their own circus for a new millennium. Laliberte takes a breather from relentless production rehearsals and meetings with the press and leans on a casino wall at the Mirage resort, his tanned shaved head shining under the dim gambling lights, ashtray at his fingertips, as he puffs and sums up his new production - "Love," the brainchild of Laliberte and the late Beatle, George Harrison.

"Love," the first Cirque du Soleil show that draws music and stories from an outside source, opens at the Mirage on June 30 and is now in previews.

"Yes, there will be a 'Mr. Kite' moment," he promises.

Reviews are forbidden until opening night as tucks and tweaks are made, but the essence is there for what The Times of London has proclaimed: "What (musically) could have been vandalism and (theatrically) irredeemably naff, has instead the making of something literally tear-jerking and transforming. ... Prepare to fall in love all over again."

The audio-visual feast could become to connoisseurs what "The Nutcracker" was to Tchaikovsky, not so much circus, ballet or opera, but all of that, layered and paired with music and sound effects left on the cutting room floor in the '60s, sandwiched with just a bit of this song, a melody from here, instrumental from there.

When a CD is released before Christmas, it will be the closest thing to a new original Beatles album since 1970.

It will be a marriage of two of the most fiercely protected franchises in entertainment - The Beatles Apple Corps Ltd., which owns the performances, and Cirque du Soleil.

"Of course with all the creative process there we just tried to get into the art of The Beatles," says Laliberte. "You have to understand, in all of the world, we are one of the rare, rare outsiders who have been invited not only into The Beatles' house, but into their closet. They gave us access to all pictures, all recordings.

"We heard where they were cracking jokes, where there were happy moments, sad moments - all that, yet it was very, very important that we coach the project with great respect.

"I was convinced from the beginning that what The Beatles and what their mission was back then was a mission of peace and love and communicating the message of a better world, which is also the Cirque du Soleil message.

"We connected at that level and we built on that foundation."

Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have been involved at every step; widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison have been equal partners in the production. Laliberte met Harrison at a Formula One race in 1997, then befriended him in 2000 as Harrison was recovering from stab wounds in a 1999 attack and was visiting Montreal.

Harrison is very much a silent partner with Laliberte.

"We shared the dream of doing something together, and George told me then that we should make another creation altogether," he said. "Unfortunately, through the process, George passed away."

The production's crowning achievement is enlisting original producer of all but one Beatles album ("Let it Be"), Sir George Martin, and his 37-year-old son, Giles, as musical producers of "Love." The 80-year-old studio whiz is credited with taking many of the band's experimental, sometimes outrageous ideas and demands and making them reality.

"He was there during the period of The Beatles. He was a witness. He was also involved with the music. He gave us a lot of the 'Love' story and also a great deal of support in anything we were doing," says Laliberte.

Giles Martin was born during the recording of "Abbey Road," the band's final (and many say best) album.

Can his father remember which song?

"No, I can't remember. Do you remember what you were doing 35 years ago?" he asks.

Giles jokes, "It was probably 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' "

The senior Martin has lost much of his hearing. He is gaunt now but still speaks in his aristocratic upper-class London accent, which in the '60s was the opposite of the pauperish street Liverpudlian dialogue of the Fab Four and today contrasts with Laliberte's Quebec French.

"First, he has something I don't have - two good ears," says George Martin. "Secondly, he (Giles) has an extraordinary mastery of digital manipulation of sound. In the old days, all I had to have was a tape, a pair and scissors or a razor blade.

"The digital shaping was like shaping bread before it goes into the oven."

The result in the production is that "the music is different, yet familiar."

Says Giles: "We started doing this 2 1/2 ago. Actually, he (George Martin) started 47 years ago, and it was an experience of going through my dad's closet and sitting and learning an enormous amount about this great band."

Working with the imaginations of the Cirque du Soleil team, Giles says he learned that "nothing was impossible, just as if you were working with The Beatles in the '60s, nothing was impossible then."

At the beginning of the Martins' involvement, upstart Giles says, "I was scared. It was like 'who let the boy out of the studio?'"

He says the first item on the agenda was to record a demo record for The Beatles and widows and Cirque du Soleil team.

The response was overwhelmingly positive about this reinvented music, with McCartney venturing to say that perhaps we hadn't taken the originals far enough out.

The toughest part for both Beatles and Cirque teams was the song selections.

"We didn't want to do The Beatles catalog," says Sir George. "Gradually, we arrived at the song list we have now.

"Everyone agreed that these were the ones," he says of the 27 in the show.

Being that the message of the show echoes The Beatles' message of world harmony, which today seems elusive, who would Laliberte's fantasy audience include on opening night? World leaders? Politicians?

"This will be a monster premiere. I think we need the people who will spread the word to the world and start a ripple effect around the world," he says diplomatically.

"You don't live or die by celebrities. You live or die by the fans. If they approve and endorse what we've done, then the word will spread out."

Scenes of 'Love' bring Beatles stories of life
Guy Laliberte, who hatched the idea for the creation of "Love" with his friend the late George Harrison and developed it after Harrison's death in 2001, says one of the most touching stories in the show's development was a story related to him by Yoko Ono about the breakup of the band.

Relates Laliberte: "She (Yoko) said forget what all the tabloids said about breaking up. These people together brought a whole generation love and hope, and people should ask themselves if they think that in '69 when 'Abbey Road' happened, this is the sound of fighting. 'Abbey Road' was their last project, and if you listen to it, how can you believe there was anything but love between all of them? It was a project, their last project, born out of love between them."

He says it's that "love" that drives everything in the show.

The music includes 27 songs and 130 bits, samples and sounds recorded by The Beatles.

Here are some highlights that spread the love around.

"Lucy in the Sky": The most anticipated act because of its descriptive hallucinogenic lyrics ("newspaper taxis, kaleidoscope eyes, marmalade skies"), it is actually very reserved, a slow-motion air and stage ballet performed by a sparkling "Lucy," in blue with an earthbound observer in the mist on stage.

"Within Without You": A remarkable pairing of George Harrison's mystical sitar and haunting lyrics from "Sgt. Pepper" layered with one of his first experiments with the Indian instrument, "Tomorrow Never Knows," the mystical melody from "Revolver." A silken disc of white fabric floats over the stage and is pulled up over the circular stadium by the audience. As it moves up to the top of the auditorium, row-by-row, light show images projected on the waving and undulating linen, suddenly it is sucked instantly into a subterranean cavity under the stage, leaving an emptiness to all.

"Octopus's Garden": A Ringo extravaganza and visual fish feast in luminescent blues, whites and silver as the song from "Abbey Road" is layered with unlikely refrains with the lullaby "Good Night," from the "White Album." The act is performed as if it were under water, with eels or carp created like Japanese fighter kites darting in out over the audience and several octopus puppets floating gracefully in the space, their supersized tentacles drifting like floating strands of hair.

"Lady Madonna": An especially creative treatment, beginning with a solo step dancer the Cirque recruiters, known for scouting the world for obscure talents, discovered in South Africa. Soon he turns to perform for a very pregnant woman - the welfare mother from the original song. Seven pairs of marionette Wellingtons (galoshes in Britspeak), step dance, representing Lady Madonna's child for each day of the week. ("Monday's child has learned to tie his boot lace," etc.)

"Sgt. Pepper" production number: A raucous, rowdy, freakish, busy, clownish pandemonium using every inch of stage, air and aisle space with innovative costumes and props and performed over several songs.

People behind the 'love' machine
Guy Laliberte, founder and chief executive officer of Cirque du Soleil


Born in Quebec City in 1959.


Background included accordionist, stiltwalker and fire-eater before creating Cirque du Soleil in 1984 with a company of street entertainers.


After developing a network of financial support, Laliberte paired cultural, artistic and acrobatic sensibilities that have become the company's signature.


In 2006, Cirque du Soleil is active on five continents.


He has been honored for innovation and has received Canada's highest distinction, the Order of Canada.

Sir George Martin, Beatles' producer, co-music director (with son Giles) of "Love"


Born in London in 1926


In 1962, he signed The Beatles to the EMI record label, working from the company's Abbey Road studios in London. He later became head of the label and its parent label, Parlophone.


Has produced 30 No. 1 singles and 16 No. 1 albums in the United Kingdom, 22 top singles and 19 No. 1 albums in the United States.


With a passion for jazz, he once had his own combo. Before he met The Beatles in 1962, he was best known for producing symphonic, jazz and comedy albums.


Working at Abbey Road studios, his post-Beatles career included the movie soundtrack for "The Who's Tommy."


Produced all but one of the original 13 Beatles albums ("Let it Be").


Winner of five Grammys.


Knighted in 1996.


Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.


Nominated for Academy Award for "A Hard Day's Night," and as producer of "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and theme of the James Bond film with the same title.


Received the coveted Palm d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for his 1992 documentary, "The Making of Sgt. Pepper."

Giles Martin, co-music director of "Love"


Born in 1969 in England