Film shows Beatles "reunited" for Las Vegas show

Tag : Spring Band

By Randall Mikkelsen
SILVER SPRING, Md (Reuters) - A new Beatles movie depicts survivingband members, widows and their producer reuniting to rise above areputation for discord and collaborate on a lavish stage show withCirque de Soleil.
The movie, "All Together Now," shows Paul McCartney and Ringo Starrworking with Yoko Ono, George Harrison's widow Olivia and TheBeatles' producer Sir George Martin to remix their music for the21st century with the Las Vegas stage production of "Love."
"I wanted to tell this story about these people who are myths.They're mythic characters," said the film's Canadian director,Adrian Wills. "This was a way for them to sort of deal with theirpast in a way that was in the present."
The movie had its U.S. debut last week at the Silverdocsdocumentary film festival and was repeated by audience demand onMonday. Apple Corps Ltd executive Jonathan Clyde said there areonly limited plans for more public showings, but a DVD release isin the pipeline.
"Love" is a $180 million show at a specially built theater at theMirage Hotel. It opened in 2006. The Cirque de Soleil employsdance, acrobatics and fanciful staging to interpret the evolutionof Beatles music from exuberant pop through utopian psychedelia,updating the 41-year old Sgt. Pepper's image with a high-techsheen.
The idea sprang from the friendship of Beatle George Harrison, whodied in 2001, and Cirque founder Guy Laliberte. Wills has filmedprevious Cirque productions, and "All Together Now" was initiallyplanned as a small-scale promotional film.
But Wills grew up a Beatles fan, and said he knew he was witnessinga rare moment following the band's bitter 1970 breakup. They werecreating something new.
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