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Turn off your mind, relax, and float down to the casino level. Cirque du Soleil's fifth Vegas extravaganza, the Beatles-based Love, looks to be as trippy as you can get while running up a tab instead of dropping one. At a May 24 preview, journalists got a first look at circus performers on trombone stilts (as if Sgt. Pepper's band had been mugged by carnies), a seemingly slow-mo trapeze act (yes, that's ''Lucy'' in the sky), floating aquatic creatures, soft-shoe-shuffling flower children, and even a white sheet that envelops the audience, Christo-style.
This Fab/Cirque combo, which premieres at The Mirage on June 30, is the first authorized ''live'' Beatles show since the group quit touring in '66. But the biggest lure for Beatlemaniacs may be the show's music: unprecedented, sometimes radical remixes by Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his son, Giles. ''Within You Without You'' is mashed up with the rhythm track from ''Tomorrow Never Knows,'' while the familiar orchestration of ''Good Night'' underlies Ringo singing ''Octopus's Garden.'' The Martinized soundscape includes about 30 complete Beatles songs and bits from roughly 100 more.
''People may perceive it as me and my dad painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa,'' says Giles. ''But the last thing anyone wanted — including our bosses, the Beatles — was 'Let's just play the number-ones CD.''' Next, the Martins will be polishing up some of these remixes on a soundtrack CD, ensuring Love is all you need for Christmas.
