Cirque du Soleil has appointed a new CEO and president in Stéphane Lefebvre, who has served as Cirque’s chief operating officer for the past year. Lefebvre will preside over the company’s day-to-day operations, including five Las Vegas Strip productions, and a new show coming to New York-New York in 2022.
According to Press Las Vegas, over five years Lefebvre has worked largely behind the scenes at Cirque, and helped it acquire Blue Man Group in 2017, VStar Entertainment in 2018, and the Works Entertainment in 2019. He and former CEO and President Daniel Lamarre worked together to relaunch of Cirque’s operations in Las Vegas, and also supervised the creation of a new production, “Drawn To Life,” at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Lamarre, now the company’s executive vice-chairman, recommended Lefebvre for the new role, which was approved by the Cirque board of directors in September. Cirque was purchased by a group of investors headed up by Toronto’s Catalyst Capital Group Inc. in a deal that was finalized in August 2020.
“I’ve taken up this challenge with a dose of humility, because this company has been through such a rough period,” Lefebvre said. “We’ve been in the trenches these last 18 months. Thank God, we can count on the amazing team in Vegas that supported the relaunch of the operations. I certainly feel privileged now, just having seen people’s reaction to coming back into theaters and seeing our shows.
“That makes me feel extremely excited about the future.”
