Cirque du Soleil might get permanent Toronto venue

[IluvMTL]

Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna is performed in Old Montreal on Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

Photograph by: Dario Ayala , Montreal Gazette

 

 

MONTREAL - Quel horreur! It’s possible that the Cirque du Soleil may find its first permanent Canadian performance venue in Toronto rather than Montreal.

 

According to stories published recently in the Toronto Star and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, MGM Resorts International, which is lobbying to get in on a proposed downtown Toronto casino, is hinting that it might include a permanent venue for Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil.

 

This would be a huge blow to Quebec pride. Unless, of course, Cirque owner and adventurous billionaire Guy Laliberté appeases les gens de notre pays by completing a permanent venue for his billion circus here first — something he has been talking about doing for decades. The most recent Montreal rumours have to do with the Cirque’s acquisition of the Maison Alcan building on Sherbrooke St.

 

Paul Godfrey, chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation as well as president and CEO of PostMedia (the company that owns the Gazette), says there is indeed substance to the rumour: “From what I understand,” he said Tuesday in an email response, “if MGM is chosen as the successful gaming operator, their facility would include a permanent Cirque facility. This is all subject to the city approving a casino in Toronto. I do know that from both MGM and Cirque.”

 

Cirque du Soleil public relations director Renée Claude Ménard, too, confirmed the story Tuesday.

 

“If MGM obtains something in Toronto,” she said, “we have confirmed that we would be their entertainment content provider. What it will be will be determined at a later date, but yes, we have of course confirmed our interest to our partner MGM.”

 

When Alan Feldman, MGM Resorts senior vice-president of public affairs, visited Toronto last month to plead his case, he talked of a $4-billion resort that would include a 1,000-room hotel and create 8,000 jobs.

 

The Las Vegas-based MGM is but one of several companies lobbying to run the proposed Toronto casino, which probably would be located at Exhibition Place, although other Toronto locations are being considered. Caesars Entertainment Corp., the company that runs Caesars Palace, the performing home of Céline Dion in Vegas, also wants in on the Toronto game. (There are, as yet, however, no rumours of a Caesar’s that would entice Dion to take up permanent residence in Toronto.)

 

Godfrey has requested that the City of Toronto come to a decision on this matter by February 2013, hinting that the planned casino might find a better welcome outside the GTA area. Many Torontonians are opposed to the idea of a casino.

 

Meanwhile, the James Cameron film Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away just had its debut at the Tokyo International Film Festival last weekend. And here in Montreal, it has been announced that Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre will be awarded an honorary degree by McGill University.

 

pdonnell@montrealgazette.com

 

© Copyright © The Montreal Gazette

 

 

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Cirque+Soleil+might+permanent+Toronto+venue/7435689/story.html#ixzz2AE1Lxm7j

[monctezuma]

Un projet de 4 milliards de $ avec un hôtel de 1000 chambres !

 

Ce serait le plus gros hôtel au Canada ?

[Malek]

Je suis sans voix.

[IluvMTL]

C'est vraiment dommage que le projet de déménagement du Casino vers le Bassin Peel (avec un amphithéâtre pour le Cirque du Soleil) n'a pas fonctionné en 2006. La bonification future des services autour de notre Casino va être très limité dans son emplacement actuel sur l’Île Notre-Dame. Je ne vois pas comment on pourra ajouter un hôtel, des salles de spectacles et d'autres services pour compétitionner avec Toronto s'ils ouvrent un casino dans le plein centre-ville.

 

http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/villes-et-regions/101317/demenagement-du-casino-au-bassin-peel-montreal-analyse-le-dossier-avec-bienveillance

 

Étude

http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/Autres/fr/rapport_casino.pdf

 

 

Article

http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/104152/casino-loto-quebec-jette-l-eponge

[LindbergMTL]

Scandale! Trahison!!! N'y avait-il pas un projet de casino avec le CDS à Montréal déjà? Attention: les artistes qui ont du succès vont là où est l'argent. Ceux qui n'en ont pas vont où les loyers sont bas.

[Malek]

^^^ ouch :-/

[jesseps]

Damn you Toronto. What is next, moving the Head Office there also?!

[MartinMtl]

Un spectacle permanent du Cirque du Soleil ne serait pas viable à Toronto, pas plus qu'à Montréal. Ils ont même échoué à New York et Miami.

 

Les spectacles musicaux à grand déploiement qui avaient beaucoup de succès à Toronto dans les années 1980 et 90 n'existent pratiquement plus. Même le célèbre promoteur Mirvish l'admet. Ne veut-il pas démolir son théâtre amiral, le Princess of Wales, construit il y a seulement 20 ans ?

 

Lisez ceci: http://www.nowtoronto.com/stage/story.cfm?content=188880

[Habfanman]

Damn you Toronto. What is next, moving the Head Office there also?!

 

If they were going to move the head office anywhere it would be in Las Vegas by now. They have 7 resident shows running there. They also have resident shows in Los Angeles, Orlando, and have plans for Dubai and Moscow. I suppose they will be moving the head office to one of these cities as well?

 

This is the same paranoia that surfaced when Just For Laughs expanded to Toronto and Chicago. How did that turn out?

[MartinMtl]

Give me one good reason why Montreal shouldn't try to build a permanent home for Cirque du Soleil ?

 

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