The 90-minute, $150 million production is a delight for nearly all the senses -- with the possible exception of taste in a few spots. But after all, it's being staged in a 2,000-seat, state-of-the-art, totally rebuilt theater in what once was the home of Siegfried & Roy .
It also marks an important departure for both partners in the collaboration: It's the first Cirque du Soleil spectacular, of which there are five presently playing in Las Vegas, built around an outside, pre-existing concept. But it won't be the last -- an Elvis-themed show is already in the works. It's also the first time that Apple Corps Ltd. -- the legendarily protective, and litigious, company that controls the Beatles' legacy -- has entered into a joint effort of this kind.
From the opening, breathtaking a cap p ella harmonies lifted from ``Because " off the ``Abbey Road " album, it's clear that musical directors Sir George Martin and his son, Giles Martin , have cleaned up the sound of the Beatles' recordings. They've also brought a willingness to mix and mash up some of the most revered creations in the canon of popular music. The 6,000 speakers installed in the theater, including those in seat backs and headrests, deliver these very familiar yet strikingly new sounds with unprecedented power and clarity.
The scenes trace the well-known history of the world's most famous rock 'n' roll group -- starting at the end with the ``Get Back " roof concert and quickly morphing through a ``Glass Onion " to wartime Liverpool, which spawned all four Mop Tops. Overhead, Cirque acrobats perform their patented rope routines, and there are also dancers and actors portraying Beatles of varying ages along with song characters on the busy, cluttered stage. From the second row, at times it was all too much to take in. Patrons in the upper, cheaper seats may have actually had a better vantage point.
The exhilaration of early Beatlemania is reproduced during ``I Want to Hold Your Hand ," and bits of ``Drive My Car " and ``What You're Doing " fuel a tumbling routine featuring the VW bug made famous on the ``Abbey Road" cover. Alternatively, ``Something " is presented as an erotic set piece featuring a single male dancer and four female aerial acrobats.
