Cirque du Soleil, which was pummeled by the pandemic and forced to close all its shows and enter bankruptcy, will emerge stronger and able to reopen in 2021 on the Strip, probably with its aquatic show “O,” which originally opened in 1998 at the Bellagio.
According to CEO Daniel Lamarre, “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 added, “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.”
A few days before Thanksgiving the company announced it emergence from Canadian and U.S. creditor protection under the wing of a new investment group led by Capital Catalyst Group and co-chaired by former MGM CEO Jim Murren and Catalyst Managing Director Gabriel de Alba.
Murren’s presence is a symbolic statement of the company’s strong historic ties to Las Vegas. So is the involvement of George Kliavkoff, who is MGM’s president of entertainment and sports.
Lamarre added, “It is the same company, the same bunch of artists and creators that are still very passionate about doing new shows. What the new [ownership] really means for our people is that now I can say the future of the company is guaranteed.”
He concluded, “When the market is back to normalcy, it means we can bring back our shows, bring the company back to profitability and it also means we have the financial strength that it takes to go through the process we’re in right now where it’s not likely the market will be back to normal until have a vaccine. After that we will be able to invest the millions of dollars it takes to relaunch all of our existing shows.”
