Sunday | Revised, encore presentation. Original post date: May 31, 2008
I was watching Larry King seven or eight months ago. I love Larry. I love his little “Heh Heh” laugh. I auto tune in every night and will usually stick around if the topic or guest interests me. I have to tell you I had to step away from the Larry for a while when his bizarre preoccupation with Anna Nicole Smith’s baby daddy nonsense and then her subsequent tragic death got just a scotch too voyeuristic and creepy for me. But I digress…
On this night, the entire hour was devoted to promoting the first anniversary of The Beatles Love Cirque Du Soleil show at The Mirage in Las Vegas. His guests were Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr , the widow of George Harrison, Sir George Martin, the manager of the Beatles since the 1960’s, and Guy Laliberte, the show’s creator.
Now I was always something of a French/Canadian sorta mime snob I’m ashamed to admit. Freakishly contorted bodies, acrobatics and pantomime were never my cup-o-tea. I even dislike the circus! But Yoko’s participation and enthusiastic endorsement of the project sealed the deal for me. I am such an admirer of her artwork. Right then and there I began to nurse a covetous desire to see the show.
I began stashing away money and planned the trip for April 12. This was my first trip ever to Las Vegas and the first time I had been on a plane in two years. I had one single minded purpose for travelling to Las Vegas. Casinos and gambling and stuff like that have no appeal for me. The only thing I wanted to do was see this show.
I also entertained a secondary agenda. I wanted to visit Slots-A-Fun Casino and have one of those $1.50 colossal franks I had seen on Unwrapped or Good Eats– one of those Saturday afternoon shows on The Food Network. The plan was to leave SoCal early Saturday morning, get to the hotel and settle in, do some walking about, see the show and then hit the hay. I’m a morning person not a Vampire. I pretty much like to be home after dark.
Friends, the flight was absolutely fantabulous! April 12th , at least weatherwise, was one for the books. Sunny, glorious. The Southwest Airline flight departed on time. The sky was clear. The view of the topography of Nevada was just a joy to behold. The weather that weekend in Las Vegas surprised me in a good way. I expected heat, humidity–heat. Instead it was sunny, bright, 78 degrees, there was a pleasant, sustained breeze. The air was comfortable, dry, perfect! Wow! I fell in love with Vegas!
The only thing I have to say about The Beatles Love show is See It! You don’t even have to purchase tickets in advance like I did. You can walk right up to the box office and get tickets. It’s theater in the round and I was seated right in the front of the stage. There was about two feet of space between my seat and the stage. Fantastic!
There was an absolutely delightful couple sitting to my left. They’d travelled from New York state just to see this show, and they were huge Beatles fans and excellent conversationalists. I counted their being there that night a blessing. I am still grateful for the goodwill they directed toward me.
It was good to be me the evening of April 12, 2008. Elements of the show appealed to your sense of smell, touch, sight and hearing. I had never experienced anything like it! The international cast of Cirque Du Soleil performers were uniformly excellent, even the young child performers cast as the four Lads of Liverpool. The production values for the music alone was worth the price of admission! One really important bit of advice: Spend the $18 bucks for the program. It’s worth every penny and it’s an invaluable tool that will help you appreciate the performances even more fully.
I had a nice time in Vegas. The only disappointment I experienced the entire weekend was not getting to have that giant frank.
Moodz4Modernz 
