It was a novel experience: interviewing Cirque du Soleil co-founder and owner Guy Laliberté, noted party animal and high-stakes poker player, in a church.
The occasion was the Cirque du Soleil’s 30th-anniversary concert at St-Jean-Baptiste Church in Montreal. After settling into a pew for the show, I was offered a rare chance to chat with Laliberté.
Having recently read a rather gloomy article on the fortunes of Cirque in the Wall Street Journal, I blurted out something about a funereal aspect to the concert. Laliberté took it in stride.
“The burial of Cirque?” he replied with irony, followed by philosophy. “Actually, true burial is always rebirth — that’s not what I believe, but depending on what you believe spiritually.”
And then, an answer: “No, that is absolutely not the case. This is a moment of celebration. This is the last event of our 30th-anniversary celebration. And for me it’s a special moment because it’s the first time in 30 years that I didn’t get at all involved in the show. So this a birthday gift that I give to myself.”
Laliberté turned 55 on Sept. 2.
According to The Wall Street Journal story, “following a bleak outlook report from a consultant, a spate of poorly received shows and a decline in profits,” the Cirque was now in restructuring mode, refocusing its business away from circus shows toward other ventures.
It also said the company’s net worth had apparently fallen from $2.7 billion in 2008 to about $2.2 billion in 2013.
Last spring, the 2014 numbers, as reported by La Presse, had dropped to “between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.”
I was among those summoned to Cirque headquarters in January 2013 for the announcement of 400 layoffs. According to Radio-Canada, another 52 Cirque employees lost their jobs last month. Obviously, these are not boom years.
Laliberté agreed that the tale told by the WSJ story was gloomy. But he shrugged it off.
“You know me, I don’t pay attention to that. We know what we’re doing. Life is full of adventure. There’s no such thing as a clear pathway.”
Yes, Laliberté is willing to sell a chunk of the business (up to 30 per cent). But this is nothing new. He once sold 20 per cent, then bought half of it back.
“We already announced this (sale) in the springtime,” he said. “It’s part of what I believe is good for the Cirque in the future. I had made a decision that I will not put the pressure on the shoulders of my kids to carry on with Cirque. So I have to find people who will carry on.
“I’m 55 years old. I want to enjoy time with my family. I want to enjoy time in life. I believe that a great partner will be the best thing for the Cirque du Soleil in the future.”
However, “no decision has been made yet,” he said. “I still have all my options open. I’m just flirting and testing the market.”
Flirting is something this sworn bachelor has practised for many years. Two baby mamas notwithstanding (the first with three children, the second with two), he remains legally single.
“All my life I’ve been flirting,” he admitted, with a smile. “I’m no different. I still carry on the same way.”
And he’s not giving up on his mania for company expansion either. There’s the already announced Cirque theme park, to be located in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico.
“Actually, we’ve been developing a lot of new projects,” he said. “The creative brand of Cirque du Soleil is creativity. We’ve been talking about it (the theme park) for a year. Finally, we found the right partner, the right opportunity.”
That partner is Grupo Vidanta, a Mexican company that also partnered with Cirque for its recently opened dinner theatre show Joya in Riviera Maya.
Laliberté talked about trusting the creative forces of a new generation.
“You know we’re 30 years old,” he said. “We have to challenge ourselves, to explore new fields.”
When the Cirque began, he said, it had little competition. Now, after years of nurturing new troupes, they’re no longer the only fish in the circus sea. Plus they’ve been hit by international economic crises, and in the case of Zed, in Japan, by an actual tsunami. (In fact, Cirque has had only one genuine artistic and economic flop, Banana Shpeel, not a “spate” of them as per the WSJ.)
So will the company continue to produce circuses?
“It’s the core business,” he replied. “You can’t deviate from that. And I don’t see anyone, neither me nor anybody else, who will take over Cirque, going in a direction other than that.”
Asked if he had a deadline to decide on new partners, he stated firmly: “There is no emergency. This is just a process I’m looking into. I have so many things to think about, on the Cirque side, and on my family side. I will try to make the best decisions for both sides.”
While speaking of family, I asked if Cirque was taking care of the family of Ka acrobat Sarah Guyard-Guillot, who died in a fall while performing in Las Vegas in July 2013.
“Totally,” he assured me, “totally.”
Her two children have remained in Las Vegas because the father is still working for Cirque in Ka. Along with Cirque, MGM Grand pays for things like the children’s education and travel expenses for their grandmother. (Guyard-Guillot was from France.)
An emotional time for the Cirque family
“This event we went through was very emotional in the family of Cirque,” Laliberté said.
The battle scene act during which she was killed has just been reinstated after a long hiatus. Everyone wanted to bring it back, but it had to be done at the right time, in a “very methodical, very safe way,” which cost about $500,000 for new equipment.
Meanwhile, the next Cirque du Soleil arena show, based on the film Avatar, is already in the works. Co-produced by the film’s director, James Cameron, it’s slated to open at the Bell Centre next December, to coincide with the release of the first of three Avatar film sequels.
“Montreal is our hometown,” Laliberté said, comparing his team to the Habs and adding, “They didn’t win the Stanley Cup every year.”
{ SOURCE: Pat Donnelly, Montreal Gazette | http://goo.gl/qhFTqr”
