If you’re expecting the over-the-top special effects and mind-blowing pretzel-limbed acrobatics normally associated with a Cirque du Soleil show, you may be disappointed by Beatles LOVE.

But if you’re a Beatles fan — or curious what might have gone through the minds of John, Paul, George or Ringo when they were 10 years old and their dreams were filled with marching bands, black birds and magical mystery tours; well then, you’re in for a treat.

Beatles LOVE is all about the visuals: warped, psychedelic, Lucy in the Sky with Diamond-style-visuals. These are the sorts of visions most people only see in dreams (or hallucinations). One of the most magical scenes, for instance, features a toddler-sized tricycle zig-zagging across the stage by itself as if there were an invisible child pedalling it.

The repeated presence of four young boys sitting in an oversized bed and wheeled across the stage suggests the entire show is actually inside their heads, the early inspiration, perhaps, behind the scores of songs that made the foursome so famous in the halls of music history.

With a 60-person cast and whimsical set design that includes, at one point, a circus tent descending on the audience, LOVE is a visual smorgasbord of aerial gymnastics, extreme sports and freestyle dance.

It’s an interactive sort of experience, with confetti blasting into the air and streamers zipping out into the audience as if you’re not there for a show; but a party. Beatles fans will have a hard time sitting still, and everyone else will at least want to sing along with what (unless you’re too young to know better) is an uplifting collection of familiar Beatles songs.

In fact, LOVE was born out of a friendship between the late George Harrison and Cirque founder Guy Laliberté, with the Grammy-award winning compilation created using master tapes at Abbey Road studios and put together by original Beatles producer George Martin.

Not surprisingly, the music makes the show.

Audiences will meet Sgt. Pepper and Lady Madonna; they'll see the Octopus’ garden and sit beneath the sky of diamonds; and, of course, all they’ll need is love.

Well, that and a $99 ticket.

Note: There’s not a bad seat inside the 2013-seat in-the-round theatre, so keep that in mind when deciding whether to spend $99 or $150 on tickets.

 

Beatles Love:
Where: The Love Theatre at the Mirage
Tickets: $99 to $150.
Information: (800) 963-9634 or www.cirquedusoleil.com.