In November 2021, Stéphane Lefebvre stepped in for Daniel Lamarre as CEO and president of Cirque du Soleil.
Today, the company announced Lefebvre has left his post, with Lamarre stepping back in.
One of the Cirque do Soleil Entertainment Group’s top-ranking executives, Lefebvre has “accepted a new mandate to evaluate new international value-creation initiatives across the Group’s portfolio,” company reps said in a statement. That means Lefebvre is done with day-to-day operations.
Lamarre joined the company in January 2001. His return to his former CEO/president post is to “support this leadership transition.” The exec was in town this month celebrating One Night for One Drop at Hakkasan Nightclub at MGM Grand. The water-conversation charity event was hosted by Cirque co-founder Guy Laliberté, who is advancing his Frooogy Camp project in Las Vegas moving into 2026.
Lamarre is stationed in Cirque’s Montreal headquarters, as was Lefebrve. Amid recent restructuring, The Strip’s predominant production company is being run almost entirely out of Montreal.
Lefebvre spent three years in various executive roles before taking over as CEO to guide Cirque through it’s pandemic reopening. Lamarre had hand-picked him for the position.
The company said of Lefebvre, “His leadership was instrumental in both the company’s sustained growth and its successful relaunch following the pandemic. Notably, he also spearheaded the company’s global restructuring, introducing the One Cirque operating model to enhance collaboration and efficiency across the organization. His vision and commitment have left a lasting impact on the business and its people.”
The move is the latest in Cirque’s reorganization and revenue-saving, moves over the past several weeks.
In February, Mike Newquist abruptly left his post as chief revenue officer after four weeks in that role. Newquist had previously worked at Cirque for two years before taking a position with the Raiders in August 2023, returning to Cirque in January 2024 as president of resident shows.
On Feb. 6, Cirque cut more than 100 positions in Las Vegas and Montreal under a ONE Cirque initiative consolidating several divisions.
The drawdown included the end of the Touring Shows Division (covering international productions) and Resident Shows Divisions (covering the five shows in Las Vegas), along with the dismissal of several management officials for Blue Man Group, VStar Entertainment Group (a Cirque holding that stages “Sesame Street Live,” “The Muppet Show” and “Paw Patrol”) and “other affiliates.”
The inner-office memo announcing that restructuring was issued by Lefebvre himself.
{ SOURCE: John Katsilometes, The Las Vegas Review-Journal }
