John Katsilometes | (TNS) Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS — Cirque du Soleil is shutting down two shows that have run for a combined 61 years. But the iconic productions are not among its shows on the Strip.

Blue Man Group is closing in New York and Chicago, announced Cirque CEO and President Stéphane Lefebvre in a memo issued Friday. The New York show, which launched the production company, has been running for 34 years. The Chicago production has been staged for 27.

Blue Man Group at Luxor continues to run. Cirque acquired Blue Man Group in July 2017.

“Despite all our efforts, we have to admit that we have reached a certain limit in these two cities in terms of ticket demand,” Lefebvre said in his company memo. “It is time for the Blue Men to explore new markets, starting with Orlando from April onwards.”

Cirque is also planning a resident show in Hawaii in December, a new resident show in Puerto Vallarta, and its first residency production in Europe — Berlin, specifically — next year. An arena show, too, is in development for ‘25.

Cirque is also shutting down its costume and fabrication workshops in Las Vegas, which were brought back after COVID during the opening of “Mad Apple” at New York-New York. With that show running and other Cirque acquisition shows performing regularly for years, “The workshop positions can be relocated directly back to the shows,” according to Friday’s memo.

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The Las Vegas business office and Cirque’s international office “have also announced changes aimed at consolidating their operations,” according to the memo.

Efforts to reach Cirque officials for comment have been unsuccessful.

Lefebvre recalled Cirque’s post-pandemic recovery, after shutting down 44 shows and laying off 4,679 employees, or 95% of its staff in March 2020. In November 2020, the company was sold to a group of its creditors led by Canadian investment company Catalyst Capital Group.

“Our post-pandemic comeback is out of the ordinary. Not only have we relaunched our shows, but we’ve also embraced digital transformation, diversified our formats and explored new sources of revenue,” Lefebvre said. “With a view to continued growth, we have today announced a number of initiatives that will consolidate our achievements and solidify our foundations. It’s a collective effort involving different teams across Cirque, and unfortunately also means saying goodbye to some colleagues.”

The exec closed with, “The decision to let colleagues go is never taken lightly. We do everything we can to support the employees affected by these announcements.”

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