McCartney Gets Back to Yesterday

Thu., Dec. 28, 2006 10:58 AM PST by Sarah Hall

After a year of turmoil, it's not surprising that Paul McCartney's ready to turn back time.

The former Beatle, 64, is working on developing a musical based on his early life, according to Britain's Sunday Telegraph.

McCartney's cousin, actor Kate Robbins, told the paper that she and the rock legend were collaborating on adapting his 1991 classical composition Liverpool Oratorio for the stage.

"Paul will approve every note as musical director," Robbins said.

McCartney and composer Carl Davis orchestrated Liverpool Oratorio to mark the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

The composition was McCartney's first foray into classical music. Divided into eight movements, it centered on Shanty, a character whose life experiences loosely follow events from McCartney's own youth on the streets of Liverpool, the Beatles' hometown.

The stage version will also focus on Shanty as the central character, per the Sunday Telegraph, and may premiere in 2008, either in London's West End or in Liverpool.

In the meantime, the days of the collective Beatles have already been interpreted for the stage in the Cirque du Soleil extravaganza Love, which opened in Las Vegas last summer and is booked at the Mirage Hotel for a 10-year engagement.

As for present-day events in the life of Sir Paul, word has it he may be taking a tough stance in his divorce battle with estranged wife Heather Mills.

According to Britain's Sunday Mirror, the ex-Beatle's attorneys are claiming that Mills does not deserve a penny of McCartney's fortune because he did not earn anything during their four-year marriage and actually lost money due to the expense of his high-profile world tours.

Furthermore, the legal eagles are reportedly denying that McCartney is worth the $1.6 billion at which his fortune has been estimated, claiming that he has amassed the comparatively paltry sum of $600 million.

Mills and McCartney announced their split in May, in a parting of the ways that was initially described as "amiable" but quickly deteriorated to downright acrimonious.

Aside from settling financial matters in the split, lawyers for the warring pair are currently hammering out issues such as custody of their three-year-old daughter, Beatrice.