Love is here, there and everywhere at Cirque/L.V. Phil performance

By John Katsilometes

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 | 6:27 p.m.

As he finished conducting the Las Vegas Philharmonic in an exquisitely performed medley of music by The Beatles, maestro Richard Oberacker turned toward the thousands of people crowding the Life Is Beautiful Downtown Stage.

Clad in a stately black suit in the face of a sunny Las Vegas afternoon, Oberacker gestured with a sweep of his arm to that army of talented musicians.

He then stopped to notice a prop at his feet.

Beach ball.

The maestro grinned, scooped up the plaything and tossed it to the crowd. Then he flashed the peace sign.

It was a beautiful moment in one of the most eagerly anticipated performances of the festival. The Las Vegas Philharmonic, teaming with artists from the Cirque show “The Beatles Love” at the Mirage, all happily converging on LIB’s main stage.

Never had these artistic institutions collaborated in such a way. The idea bloomed over time, with L.V. Phil CEO Jeri Crawford approaching Life Is Beautiful founder Rehan Choudhry and asking about, maybe, setting up a “rave” with the Phil. The concept was further enlivened when LIB music guru Craig Nyman suggested incorporating Cirque’s “Love” cast into a performance of The Beatles classics.

It all came off beautifully. The Phil opened with a series of those readily recognizable songs, played purely as the crowd swayed and even sang along to “Across the Universe,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Michelle,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Yellow Submarine,” among other songs.

The Cirque artists bounded to the scene, as is their wont, as the tea-toting character from "Love" took center stage. The recording of The Beatles playing “Get Back” blanketed the crowd. Footage of the rooftop concert was buoyed by the symphony's live playing, and the “Love" cast took to the air on a line of four long bungee chords.

“Eleanor Rigby” was played a second time, powerfully delivered as the “Love” cast member portraying that character shuffled across the stage. “Here Comes the Sun” was warmly received by the sun-drenched crowd, cheering George Harrison’s vocals, followed by “Yesterday.”

At the end, it was a full-voiced “All You Need Is Love,” with the crowd roaring at the images of John Lennon and Paul McCartney singing together during footage of the live “Our World” global telecast from 1967. “All together now!” McCartney shouts in that clip, throughout history and over the masses in downtown Las Vegas. “Everybody!”

“All you need is love, love, love is all you need!” the crowd sang, obeying gleefully. The song played out, with the musicians and Cirque artists amassing in the middle to acknowledge all that love.

Afterward, Oberacker, the music director of “Ka” and co-creator of a new musical called “Bandstand,” said it was a career highlight. “The perfect fusion” of the elements of his career is how he termed it.

It also was the perfect fusion of music spanning generations and a pair of this city’s great cultural institutions. It was a moment when life really was beautiful.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.