A ROUGH & TUMBLE PROCESS TO BRING THE BEATLES LOVE MUSICAL TO LIFE
CineVegas Day 7: The film festival highlight yesterday (WED) was the screening of All Together Now, the no-holds barred and totally unsanitized documentary drama of how the Love Cirque du Soleil musical came to The Mirage. The filming by Adrian Wlls was remarkable in its close-up intimacy at last nights showing that even brought out some of the Cirque characters.
Wills told Luxe Life, “The invitation to make the film was actually in a Christmas card I received in 2004. Needless to say it was a very good gift and I said yes immediately. I’d been making small portrait films for Cirque for the previous seven years so this became my first feature film for them. I shot approaching 200 hours of film, which wound up getting edited down to 85 minutes. It provides fascinating insight into the creative skills, international cast and the passion for all involved. The interview with Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison and Sir Paul McCartney and MGM Mirage CEO Bobby Baldwin and all the Cirque team have never been seen before.”
The film, which shows the contributions of both Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr also depicts the input from Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison whose friendship with Cirque founder Guy LaLiberté got the process rolling. We often hear of creative differences scuttling stars and screenplays so it was nice to know that even thought the temper tantrums occurred here too the end goal was attained super successfully. Kudos to my friends Sir George Martin and son Giles who masterminded the extraordinary sound processing from the original recordings and this new movie will be released worldwide on DVD later this fall with their show soundtrack CD.
Incidentally tonight (THUR) Cirque launches its new VIP Tapis Rouge service at the Love musical and Luxe Life will have that report early next week.
CINEVEGAS DAY 8: Thursday, June 19: Our headliner magicians, Lance Burton, Teller and Criss Angel appear in the first-and-only documentary Women in Boxes, that reveals the secret lives of the magician’s assistant.
It’s a must-see film of the festival and screens at 2 p.m. Forget rabbits and top hats, boxes and curtains, knives and wands. These are the women behind the men and oft overlooked. Sometimes they risk life and limb for the “léger de main” (sleight of hand) dodging saws, fire-poles as they are poked, stabbed and prodded while playing contortionist! Festival organizers are still hoping that some of the Vegas headliner magicians will make last-minute appearances.
The story of young love and its collision with drugs and poverty in Philadelphia is depicted at 6:30 p.m. in Explicit Ills, which is in the CineVegas “Diamond Discoveries” section of previously premiered new films and available for American distribution. Primo, about three cousins who journey to Vegas and deal with a love triangle, a lethal gambling debt and family revenge, is at 9:30 p.m. The CineVegas Drive-In exists for only one night near Fremont Street at 9 p.m. and is followed by the Vintage Vegas party with a 10 p.m. start downtown.