The more we learn about the layoffs Cirque announced on Wednesday the 16th, the more dire the situation for Cirque it becomes. Although Renée-Claude Ménard (spokeswoman for Cirque du Soleil) denied in the press conference that the Cirque was “in crisis”, it is hard to argue with the fact that 2012 was the first in its history (beyond the initial start-up period) that the Canadian company was not profitable.
And in article published in the Daily Press Dot Com, it now looks as if Cirque’s partners no longer want to help?
From CirqueSpotlight:
I don’t know how reliable this source is, but in an article they wrote:
“The spokesperson said that the company’s business model has evolved greatly in the past five years, adding that some partners in Las Vegas no longer are willing to participate in sharing the costs of production and that the Canadian company is already looking for other partners.”
Another line in the article we find interesting is one which suggests beyond the shows that have closed already, there might be three others that are not doing so well?
With nearly 5,000 employees of which 1,300 are artists, Canadian company had a turnover of over $1 billion in 2011. Since then, three shows – the titles of which were not disclosed by Renée-Claude Ménard, director of public relations of the multinational company in the entertainment industry – were not doing as well as it was expected, for “different reasons.”
Of course these three shows could easily be ZAIA, Viva Elvis, IRIS and/or Saltimbanco, but we’ll have to wait and see if Cirque du Soleil announces any other show closings in the next three to six months.
You can read that article from the Daily Press here.
{ SOURCE: Foobar/CirqueSpotlight, The Daily Press Dot Com }
