Cirque du Soleil president reaffirms group’s commitment to entertainment in Las Vegas
About a year ago, Cirque du Soleil’s aquatic landmark “O” shifted to a seven-night schedule, a first for the dreamlike epic that originally opened with Bellagio in October of 1998. After passing the 10,000-show mark last September, the production hired new artists and increased the cast to 117 from 77 in preparation for what should have been its biggest year yet in 2020. The corornavirus pandemic decimated those rosy projections.
Last week, Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lamarre said “O” likely would be the first Cirque show to reopen on the Las Vegas Strip in 2021.
“People in Las Vegas and even we ourselves sometimes forget that ‘O’ is the most successful show in the world. There is no other single show that is selling that many tickets year after year for over 20 years now,” he said. “This signature show is a symbol for us and that’s why it will be more than natural to open ‘O’ first. It will send a clear signal worldwide that Cirque du Soleil is back.”
Just before Thanksgiving, the Montreal-based live entertainment group announced the closure of a purchase agreement with its secured lenders and that the company had emerged from the creditor protection period for which it filed in June in Canada and the United States. The new investment group is led by Toronto firm Capital Catalyst Group and the co-chairs of the new Cirque du Soleil board of directors are former MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren and Catalyst Managing Director Gabriel de Alba.
The presence of Murren and another new board member, George Kliavkoff, MGM president of entertainment and sports, is confirmation of the strong relationship between Cirque and Las Vegas, which began when the company’s first Strip residency “Mystére” opened at Treasure Island in 1993.
“Having (Murren and Kliavkoff) is not only good for Las Vegas, which is key to the development of this company, but it’s also (about) the opportunity to develop with (MGM) in their other casinos around the world,” Lamarre said.
Cirque has relaunched three productions in recent months: “X: The Land of Fantasy” in Hangzhou, China; “Joya”