Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and George Martin celebrate five years of Love in Las Vegas

Sir Paul McCartney, Sir George Martin, Giles Martin, Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon, and Olivia and Dhani Harrison were among guests at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas to celebrate five years of the Cirque du Soleil show Love.

The stage spectacular Love opened at the Mirage in June 2006, and featured The Beatles’ master recordings remixed and rearranged by Sir George and his son Giles. The soundtrack was released in November 2006, and won two Grammy Awards in 2008.

Prior to the night’s performance of the show, the stage announcer welcomed the audience and said there were special guests in attendance for the fifth anniversary.

Afterwards, Sir Paul, Sir George, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison and Giles Martin joined the cast onstage. Sir Paul thanked the cast and other members of Cirque, and Ono spoke of Olivia Harrison’s role in the show coming to fruition.

As I said to George Martin at a rehearsal of the show in 2006, for me what is really strange about this is remembering writing these things, which is so little, little guitar, little piano, a little bit of paper and pencil on the back of an envelope, Sgt. Pepper or something. It is such a little process and now look what happened to it. It’s incredible.

The Mirage Hotel had a large Love logo in its lobby, and was decorated both inside and out. Here’s a video of Sir Paul and his fiancée Nancy Shevell’s arrival at the party:

Ringo Starr, currently on tour in Europe, sent a video message to be played at the beginning of the show.

George Harrison and Guy Laliberte had a chat at a party and it’s still rolling on. I feel like it’s one of those magic moments. George, who brought the idea to Apple, would have been pleased with the results and I truly think John would have, too. I mean, what’s not to like? It’s a really cool show.

Love was the brainchild of George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil’s Guy Laliberte. Harrison’s widow Olivia paid tribute to Cirque’s cast and staff at the anniversary party.

It would have made George so proud and happy to be here on the fifth anniversary of our wonderful show in Las Vegas. Dhani and I, on George’s behalf, would like to congratulate Guy, all of the friends that we have made in the course of this journey, and, of course, the extraordinarily talented cast and incredibly hard working crew that have made this show possible. We look forward to being back here in five more years.

John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono said that he would also have been supportive of the stage show.

John would have been thrilled to see the success of ‘Love’ after five years. In fact, he would have been proud of how his music has been presented so beautifully and successfully by the partnership of The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil. The Beatles’ family members are getting together for this occasion in Las Vegas to celebrate this momentous occasion, and I am happy to be here.

The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles also opened a new exhibition: The Beatles Love: A Fifth Anniversary Cirque du Soleil Showcase, in celebration of the stage show. The exhibition features costumes, instruments and props, and 3D footage from the production.

Love is an unprecedented approach to both The Beatles story and music. We’re thrilled that Cirque du Soleil has decided to partner with us in continuing this elaborate Beatles experience. The work of Cirque du Soleil’s creative team is remarkable, and we’re honored to showcase these pieces in our museum.”

The Love exhibition is on the third floor of the Grammy Museum, and will remain open until February 2012. The museum is located at 800 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles.