It’s a sad thing, because I always say that the Cirque du Soleil is the energy of the creators and workers who … bring it together,” said Ste-Croix. “The Cirque du Soleil is not a big top — it’s a show, and a show is human energy and human creativity. I think it’s sad that they stopped paying them. And it was not a question of COVID — it was a question of bad finance. They ran out of money before COVID.”
Since it was bought by a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm TPG Capital in 2015, the Cirque has spent US$550 million to grow the company. Even before the pandemic forced the Cirque to close all its shows, there were warning clouds on the horizon. The Cirque had shuttered its latest Las Vegas show, R.U.N., a box-office bomb that cost the company US$60 million. It was also saddled with US$1 billion in debt. When the global box office went dry in March, the Cirque had to lay off just under 4,700 employees — 95 per cent of its staff.
