Cirque du Soleil will set up its big top in the Big Apple for the first time in nearly a decade as the popular troupe continues its high-wire act to expand the brand after going belly-up during the pandemic, The Post has learned.
The production – called “Luzia,” based on a waking dream of Mexico – is slated to run from March 5 to March 30 at a temporary tent on Randall’s Island, according to CEO Stephane Lefebvre. Tickets for the 2,500-seat venue will go on sale this week with a $55 starting price.
“We haven’t been in New York since, I believe, 2016,” Lefebvre told The Post. “So it’s been a long time. It’s such an important market.”
Lefebvre helped revive Cirque after it went dark in 2020 – when it laid off all its acrobats, strongmen and trapeze artists at stages from Las Vegas to Lyon, France.
He led a group of deep-pocketed investors that included private equity firm Catalyst Group and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly in wresting control out of bankruptcy from co-founder Guy Laliberté and backer TPG Capital, as The Post previously reported.
“We got out of COVID a leaner organization,” Lefebvre said. “We really started the business from scratch. When you think about it, in March 2020, we had to let go of pretty much 90% of our people. So when we restarted business in 2021, we had to literally restart from scratch and hire every single performer to come back and work with us.”
Cirque – which currently has residences at five different hotels in Vegas, including its water-based spectacle “O” at the Bellagio, as well as Orlando and Germany – is breaking even on a cash flow basis, according to a Moody’s Investors report issued last March.
It has about $200 million on its balance sheet, according to Moody’s.
Last month, the Cirque Group, which also owns the company behind the Blue Man Group, hired Amanda Moore-Saunders from Live Nation as the new Global Head of Marketing and Growth for its resident shows division.
Now, Lefebvre wants to bring the Montreal-founded Cirque to the masses by adding more intimate dinner shows around the world, including Hawaii, London and New York.
He launched the concept with two permanent dinner shows in Mexico, where a full three-course dinner, drinks and show in Vidanta Riviera near Cancun costs $384, according to its website.
“We’re expanding the number of shows that we have on the road and touring as well as building a more sustained presence,” Lefebvre said.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the performers. In August, one acrobat was badly injured when she fell from a hoop during a show in Portland, Ore.
“She’s in rehab. She’s just fine now and will be going back on the show,” Lefebvre said.