Cirque du Soleil cancels all shows worldwide because of the coronavirus
LAS VEGAS — Cirque du Soleil, creator of many of the most popular shows in Las Vegas, said Saturday that it is temporarily suspending its productions in Las Vegas as well as around the world because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The company said it made the decision based on public health authorities calling for people to limit their social interactions to stop the spread of the virus.
The shows that will be canceled effective Sunday are “O” at the Bellagio, “KA” at MGM Grand, “The Beatles Love” at the Mirage, “Mystere” at Treasure Island, “Zumanity“ at New York-New York and “Michael Jackson One“ at Mandalay Bay.
Cirque du Soleil productions also were canceled in Costa Mesa; Denver; Salt Lake City; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Houston; New Orleans; Boston; Montreal; Tel Aviv; Meloneras, Spain; Munich, Germany; and the Australian cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
Coronavirus canceled individual productions or entire seasons (not to mention all of Broadway). Here’s how some are reopening on a digital stage.
Also Saturday, the long-running Penn & Teller comedy and magic show in Vegas has been canceled effective immediately.
Penn Jillette tweeted: “Out of concern and love for our audiences, & well, concern and love for everyone — we will be canceling our shows starting tonight for the next few weeks Hope to be back on stage soon when gathering is once again responsible. Let’s all take care of ourselves & each other. Love. “
The worldwide closures follow another disappointment for Cirque du Soleil in Vegas: On March the company closed its first non-acrobat-based, live-action adventure show, “R.U.N,” because of poor ticket sales for the show, based at Luxor Hotel and Casino.
The last to remain open, the botanical gardens at the Huntington, announced Tuesday that the whole campus is closing.
“We are in the business of taking risks,” company President and Chief Executive Daniel Lamarre told the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the time of the announcement late last month. “We thought we had a good risk here. We all believed it was the right thing to do, to bring something special and different to the Strip. Unfortunately we did not attract as many people to the show as we were hoping.”
The 75-minute show opened in October in the 1,500-seat theater but was hampered by motorcycle stunt crashes, among other things. The stunt-based show was written by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and inspired by blockbuster action movies and comic-book graphic novels.
Go behind the scenes of Cirque du Soleil’s first show to forgo contortionists and clowns. Instead, think action-thriller. A graphic novel come to life.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
