Yellow Submarine 'for London stage'

LONDON, UK (BBC) - The Beatles' psychedelic cartoon film Yellow Submarine is to be made into a London stage musical, according to reports.
The representatives of surviving Beatles Paul, George and Ringo are in negotiation with the acclaimed circus troop Cirque du Soleil to stage the production in London.

The Sunday Times said that this weekend the Beatles' company Apple had confirmed that talks had been held - though no agreement had yet been signed.

The show would involve acrobats, clowns and aerial contortionists - and the Beatles' music.

Song catalogue

The negotiating process has been slow, thanks to the complexity of the Beatles' business affairs.

Yoko Ono has been involved on behalf of the John Lennon estate, as has Michael Jackson, who co-owns the Beatles song catalogue with Sony/ATVMusic publishing.
The 1968 film was artworked by Heinz Edelmann. The Beatles' own involvement in the film was limited to the writing of four new songs and a brief in-person appearance at the end - but the movie went on to become a cult classic.

The Fab Four's voices were provided by actors - including Geoffrey Hughes, later better-known as Eddie Yates in the ITV soap Coronation Street.

Yellow Submarine was re-released in 1999, as was a re-mastered CD of the soundtrack songs.

The newspaper added that Sir George Martin, the Beatles' producer, had long wanted to turn the cartoon film into a stage musical.