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Montreal - Canadian-based Cirque du Soleil, acquired by Chinese and US investors last year, has made changes that have been criticised internally but which should allow it to win over Broadway and China.
The entertainment giant, founded in Quebec in 1984, was purchased last spring for $1.5bn by the US investment fund TPG and China's Fosun Group, the owner of Club Med.
The founder, former Canadian clown Guy Laliberte, has retained a 10% stake in the company, while TPG and Fosun control 70% and 20% of the firm.
Changes of ownership
The first fallout from this takeover was announced by Cirque's chief executive, Daniel Lamarre, who in a letter to the nearly 4 400 employees, warned that "major changes to the corporate structure" were underway.
In particular, staff are grumbling because the chief operating office is a corporate lawyer. Two of the company's longtime leaders, chief operating officer Charles Decarie and chief financial officer Eric Marceau, left the company.
"Less comfortable with the new environment," Lamarre said of their departure.
"It is normal when there are changes of ownership that adjustments be made," he said.
The departures have sparked "a great unease internally among managers and among employees" who are not fond of the new direction advocated by management, public broadcaster CBC reported, citing sources in the company.
In particular, the replacement of Decarie by corporate lawyer Jonathan Tetrault, who is more adept at finance than entertainment, irks staff who view their work as performance art.
"The Cirque has always been balanced between business and creation, but now everything is focused on business," said a source.
New shows
Lamarre retorted that Cirque du Soleil has reached the global fame it enjoys because of its creativity, not because of the way its business side is run.
Evidence of how the new Cirque owners "have bought the company to grow it" is that its payroll has increased 10% since the takeover, said Lamarre.
The Cirque's poor financial performance in recent years had led to the dismissal of 1 000 employees as part of a restructuring before last year's takeover.
With a new show unveiled in April in Montreal and another launched on Broadway on May 25, "we're in a mode where it's full on at the creation and production," Lamarre commented.
Cirque du Soleil will debut on Broadway in New York with "Par Amour," but it is especially eying the Chinese market for new shows.
Inspired by the film Avatar from James Cameron, the new show Toruk attracted a record crowd at Christmas in Montreal, before it hits the road in the Middle Kingdom in 2017.
"Avatar the film was a runaway success in China and we think this is the right show to establish the brand of Cirque du Soleil in China," says Lamarre.
"We have four, five shows in development and I hope that in five years we will have a permanent presence of two or three new shows out there," said Lamarre, who is eager for the Cirque to "cross all cultures and into all markets."
