The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil

The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil

April 19, 2006

Director - Dominic Champagne, Music Directors - Sir George Martin & Giles Martin
Preview Performances Begin June 2 at The Mirage in Las Vegas
TICKETS ON SALE TODAY!

    LAS VEGAS, April 19 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Preview
performances begin June 2 for The Beatles LOVE, the latest
Cirque du Soleil production which celebrates the musical
legacy of The Beatles.  The Gala Premiere will be held
Friday, June 30, 2006.  LOVE will be presented exclusively
at The Mirage in Las Vegas.  This joint artistic venture
marks the first time that The Beatles company, Apple Corps
Ltd., has agreed to a major theatrical partnership.  The
project was born out of a personal friendship and mutual
admiration between the late George Harrison and Cirque du
Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.

    LOVE will bring the magic of Cirque du Soleil together
with the spirit and passion behind the most beloved rock
group of all time to create a vivid, intimate and powerful
entertainment experience.   

    Sir George Martin, The Beatles original producer, and
his son Giles Martin have been working with the entire
archive of Beatles recordings to create the musical
component for LOVE.  The result is an unprecedented
approach to the music for a stage production.  "After
spending more than 40 years of my life working with The
Beatles and their wonderful music, I am thrilled to be
working with it once again, on this exciting project with
Cirque du Soleil," said Sir George Martin.  "The
show will be a unique and magical experience."

    Using the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios, Sir
George and Giles have created a unique soundscape for LOVE.
 "I think we will achieve a real sense of drama with
the music, the audience will feel as though they are
actually in the theatre with the band.  People are going to
be knocked out by what they are hearing!" said Giles
Martin.   

    Dominic Champagne directed and wrote the original
concept for the show which captures the essence of love
that John, Paul, George and Ringo inspired during their
astonishing adventure together.  LOVE evokes the exuberant
and irreverent spirit of The Beatles.  "When we
embarked on this extraordinary adventure in 2002,"
said Gilles Ste-Croix, Show Concept Creator and Director of
Creation, "we set out to create a timeless,
three-dimensional evocation of The Beatles music.  Drawn
from the poetry of the lyrics, we developed a preliminary
concept that explored the content of the songs in a series
of scenes inhabited by real and imaginary people." 
The international cast of 60 channels a raw, youthful
energy underscored by aerial performance, extreme sports
and urban, freestyle dance.  

    LOVE will be presented in a custom-built theatre at The
Mirage featuring 360-degree seating and advanced high
definition video projections with 100-foot digital, moving
images.  The panoramic surround sound system will envelop
the audience who will experience The Beatles music like
never before ... 

    Apple Corps Ltd. is planning to release the album
through the EMI Music
later this year.

     Cirque du Soleil Creative Team: 
     Guy Laliberte -- Guide, Show Concept Creator
     Dominic Champagne -- Director, Show Concept Writer 
     Gilles Ste-Croix -- Director of Creation, Show Concept
Creator
     Chantal Tremblay -- Associate Director of Creation
     Jean Rabasse -- Theatre and Set Designer
     Philippe Guillotel -- Costume Designer
     Jonathan Deans -- Sound Designer
     Yves Aucoin -- Lighting Designer
     Francis Laporte ¨C Video Projection Designer
     Hansel Cereza and Dave St-Pierre -- Choreographers
     Guy St-Amour -- Acrobatic & Rigging Designer
     Daniel Cola -- Acrobatic Performance Designer
     Nathalie Gagne -- Make-up Designer
     Patricia Ruel -- Props Designer
     Michael Curry -- Puppet Designer
     Guest Creators: 
     Andre Simard -- Aerial Acrobatic Designer
     Alexis Martin - Dramaturgist
     Francois Perusse -- Comic Audio-clips Designer

    For Apple Corps Ltd.:
     Sir George Martin -- Music Director
     Giles Martin -- Music Director
     Neil Aspinall -- Executive Producer

    Tickets to LOVE go on sale at 12:01am EDT April 19.  

    TICKET PRICES:

    *$150, $125, $99, $69

    All preview performances* will be discounted 25
percent.

    *Preview performances for LOVE begin June 2 and run
through June 29.  During these performances, the creative
team is in the very final stages of creation.  The
audience's reaction and participation is an important step
in this process.  The artistic direction of LOVE reserves
the right to interrupt the performance to make adjustments
as necessary. 

    SHOW SCHEDULE:

    Preview performances will be presented nightly at
7:00pm.  In addition, there will 10:30pm performances on
limited dates.  Please consult the most current show
schedule at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com .  Schedule is
subject to change without notice. 

    Following the Preview period, LOVE will be performed
Thursday through Monday with no shows on Tuesdays or
Wednesdays.  Beginning July 1, there will be two shows
nightly at 7:30pm & 10:30pm 

    TO RESERVE TICKETS:

    By phone:  [phone] or 800 963 9634 
    Online:    http://www.cirquedusoleil.com ,
http://www.thebeatles.com or  
               http://www.mirage.com . 
    In person: At the LOVE box office at The Mirage or any
of the MGM MIRAGE 
               box offices in Las Vegas.

    Ownership of the trademarks: Apple Corps Limited for
The Beatles (word and design), Cirque du Soleil for Cirque
du Soleil (word and design) and The Cirque Apple Creation
Partnership for LOVE (word and design).  Trademarks used
under license.

    For more information, please contact:

     Anita Nelving, Public Relations Manager,
     Cirque du Soleil
     Tel:   [phone] or [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

    /NOTE TO EDITORS:  PLEASE NOTE: 
    *  A press conference will be held in the LOVE Theatre
at The Mirage in 
       Las Vegas, tentatively on May 24.  Details about
this event are 
       forthcoming.
    *  For Creative Team biographies, images and additional
information, visit 
       the Cirque du Soleil Press Room at 
      
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/pressroom/default.htm
       (Registration is required to access images and media
information) /

SOURCE  Cirque du Soleil; Apple Corps Ltd.