Only in Las Vegas: Beatles songs, as portrayed by the acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil, will replace animal training duo Siegfried and Roy at one of the city’s biggest tourist theaters, according to a deal announced on Thursday.
Characters from Beatles songs like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Nowhere Man” and “I am the Walrus” will be featured in the $30 million show about the Beatles’ life in the 1960s, said Gilles Ste-Croix, the Cirque du Soleil vice president of creation in charge of the project.
The show marks a musical first: the Beatles have never before allowed a major theatrical performance of their music, but surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison have approved the deal.
The show will take the place of the magic and animal taming duo Siegfried & Roy, in a new, roughly $100 million, theater at the Mirage casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Montreal-based Cirque said.
Siegfried & Roy closed a year ago after a tiger mauled animal trainer Roy Horn.
The Cirque show will be a financial partnership between Cirque, the Beatles’ Apple Corp, and casino owner MGM Mirage, which will also pay for the theater.
Before his death, former Beatle George Harrison struck up a friendship with Cirque founder Guy Laliberte, leading to the idea for the production.
Source CNN.com.
