LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — One of Cirque du Soleil's top Las Vegas executives is leaving the company.
On Tuesday, the company announced they were "parting ways" with Eric Grilly, who had been the President of Resident Shows and Affiliate Shows.
"We have mutually agreed to part ways and we thank Eric Grilly for his numerous contributions during his tenure at Cirque du Soleil, specifically leading us back into operations following the shutdown. We look forward to having Mike Newquist, a seasoned entertainment executive and a former leader of our touring shows division step into the role of president for a seamless transition."
Channel 13 spoke to Grilly a few months ago and he said the pandemic was a major hurdle the company had to overcome.
"We made a conscious effort to stay in touch with our artists and held monthly Zooms to try to keep them aware of what was going on. When shows started coming back, they had capacity limits, which weren't viable for us to reopen to perform in a theater of 25% or 50% occupancy," Grilly said. "But once the path became clear to us and we started ramping up, we started thinking about what do we do? We invested heavily in health and safety protocols. It started with us building a testing center that was testing 1,100 people a day. An artist or technician would be tested early in the morning and if they were cleared, they would then go to the theater. Through the rigor we took in our protocols, when we opened the shows, we never had to close them again. I think it was an important thing for our new investors, but also for our employees who had been out of work for months."
RELATED LINK: Cirque du Soleil emerges from creditor protection
Grilly also told Channel 13 the business has been restructured over the past couple of years and Cirque du Soleil is continuing to try to find ways to bring in audiences.
As for Newquist, he previously worked as the President of the Touring Shows Division. He resigned from the company in July to join Allegiant Stadium and will now rejoin Cirque du Soleil. Company officials said the change will be effective, as of Feb. 12.
