Mad Apple's Closure Leaves Musicians and Performers With Uncertain Vegas Future

^{Performers take the stage during a Mad Apple show at New York-New York in Las Vegas. The Cirque du Soleil production closes its run on Sept. 5. (Photo: courtesy of Cirque du Soleil)}

LAS VEGAS – Mad Apple, the Cirque du Soleil production at New York-New York, will close in less than a week, joining the Awakening show as another that couldn’t survive the test of time.

Two of the Strip's most ambitious productions are ending within just months of each other, leaving hundreds of cast and crew members from both shows navigating a disorienting professional moment in their careers.

Tracyan Martin, a multi-instrumentalist at Mad Apple, has been with the show since its inception in 2022. She found out her job was ending while sitting at a pub with a friend. Her phone lit up with a text from a friend at MJ Live, asking if Mad Apple was indeed closing. Her friend sent her the news article, and it was days later that she officially learned the show would be shutting down after Labor Day weekend. 

Tracyan Martin plays trombone during a Mad Apple performance. She plays several instruments in the show including piano and keytar. (Photo: courtesy of Tracyan Martin)

Martin has been part of Mad Apple's five-person band since opening night, relocating from Atlanta to Las Vegas to play trombone, piano, and keytar for ten shows a week. Learning that the life she'd built around her role in the show would end in three weeks left her to (quickly) try to figure out what’s next.

"I have to commend the entire cast, because they're killing it," Martin told Casinos.com. "They're doing the show like they don't know their lives are potentially in danger, their financial stability has been immediately jeopardized. We're out here still doing it."

Casinos.com sat down with Martin to talk about how she learned of the closure and what it means for her and the community of Mad Apple performers, who are now figuring out what their lives will look like next.

Back to the Beginning: Mad Apple Settles in Post-COVID

Mad Apple opened in May 2022 at New York-New York, taking over the theater that had hosted the Zumanity cabaret show for nearly 17 years before its closure in 2020. Zumanity was the first adult-themed Cirque du Soleil production, built around sensuality and mature content.

Mad Apple took root in that theater through a collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and The Works Entertainment Group. Rather than replicate Zumanity, the new show traded in the sexual edge for a greater focus on stand-up comedy. The show featured familiar elements from other productions, such as acrobatics, music, dance, and magic, but Mad Apple was the first Cirque show ever to feature stand-up comedy.

Mad Apple welcomed more than 1.2 million guests during its lifetime at NYNY. The show featured rotating performers with limited-time contracts to give it a more variety-show feel. Despite that approach, its self-contained format meant that many guests who saw it once didn't feel a strong pull to return, which may have contributed to its eventual decline.

“Allegedly low ticket sales are why this show is closing,” said Jennifer Gay, aka Vegasstarfish, on Instagram. “It's probably a combination of that and really weak marketing. A picture of an apple on a cab isn't doing anything for you, Cirque”

As a mid-tier-priced production, Mad Apple was competing for attention against the Sphere, which is headlining music residencies, live sports, and shows like Absinthe from Spiegelworld.

For performers like Martin, Mad Apple offered a way into a major Vegas production without needing to fit the traditional Cirque mold. She spent years building her career as a touring musician, working alongside stars like Janelle Monáe, CeeLo Green, and Oprah, before auditioning for Mad Apple through a video of her playing keytar and trombone. Directors Neil Dorward and Simon Painter immediately wanted her in the show, going so far as to create a role for her that hadn't previously existed.

“Allegedly low ticket sales are why this show is closing,” said Jennifer Gay, aka Vegasstarfish, on Instagram. “It's probably a combination of that and really weak marketing. A picture of an apple on a cab isn't doing anything for you, Cirque.”

“When they saw my audition tape, Neil said, 'I want her,” Martin said. “They created a position for me in Mad Apple that didn't exist — they created trombone parts."

The production gave her a seat in a major Vegas show, something she said stood out from the church music background she grew up with.

Finding Out About the Ending

Martin recounted the moment she found out about the show, which came way earlier than even the show’s leadership had expected. She’d gotten a text from one of her friends from MJ Live in early August, who asked if it was true that Mad Apple was closing. She hadn't heard anything internally, even though Cirque de Soleil held a company meeting several months ago where cast members from all its shows met with the CEO to discuss the trajectory of the productions as a whole.

She knew everyone in Vegas entertainment was feeling the effects of a changing scene, but nothing was confirmed until that Saturday. The same friend from MJ Live called and said, "I got the inside scoop, the show is definitely closing." Later that day, her company's manager called in the entire Mad Apple cast for an emergency meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday to confirm the news.

During the meeting, one of the resident show's executives joined the cast on Zoom, and Martin remembers he was visibly upset that the story had gotten out before they were going to announce it themselves. According to Martin, Cirque’s original plan had been to share the news internally the following Tuesday, which would have given the cast roughly two and a half weeks' notice.

Despite how abrupt the closure was, she was grateful they weren't let go without notice. The show is on a rolling contract that must be renewed at the end of May each year, so she was aware it could end around that time.

"While someone could say this isn't considerate, they can't make the decisions about why a show closes, how it closes, and how much time they give us," Martin said. "The silver lining is that we could have been out weeks ago. There's always an ending to a show that you begin as an artist."

Less than two hours after the meeting, a sound check was scheduled for the Saturday night shows. Martin told us that she and her castmates struggled through it, and the first two shows after the announcement were "touch and go." Somehow, the band found a way through by leaning on each other and the muscle memory of having performed the show almost 2,000 times.

What Cirque Is Doing to Help

Cirque brought in a variety of resources to give performers support through the looming closure, including unemployment counselors, extended pay beyond the closing date, and on-site therapists to help people work through the transition. To help people find their next work opportunity, Cirque is also offering job fairs for cast members and spouses.

Despite the support that Cirque is offering, there’s still the difficult reality that the Mad Apple cast will be out of a job by Sept. 6. Martin said many cast members, herself included, turned down other opportunities to honor their show contracts.

"It hurts to know that you've invested so much of your time and [turned] down other gigs and things you want to do," Martin said. "Because you're committed to a show not just contractually, but in good faith."

Others made major life decisions, thinking they would have job stability, like buying houses or starting families. Some international cast members on P-1 visas now have six months to decide on their next move before their immigration status changes. With the closure of Mad Apple, hundreds of performers will need to decide whether they want to stay in Las Vegas or look elsewhere for their next chapters.

Once Mad Apple closes, Cirque’s remaining Las Vegas portfolio will be only four resident productions: Mystère at Treasure Island, O at Bellagio, KA at MGM Grand, and Michael Jackson ONE at Mandalay Bay.

Staying in Vegas, or Starting Over

For dancers and specialty acrobats, job options may be limited, whether they remain in Vegas to navigate a competitive show landscape or move elsewhere. But for musicians like Martin, the outlook is a little brighter than for others.

^{Martin's background playing multiple instruments, including piano, trombone, and guitar, gives her a wide range of options as she chooses what to do with her music career. (Photos: courtesy of Tracyan Martin)}

Since Mad Apple was built around a live band, the musicians in the show have skills that translate well into the Las Vegas live music scene. Whether it's supporting residencies, house bands, or even touring acts, there are a wide variety of routes to go as an entertainer. Martin says she's already been offered other opportunities, but doesn’t feel like the show’s closure means she has to make an immediate decision.

"I think I've done a great job networking locally, because there's a scene here — it's the entertainment city," Martin said. "There are even better opportunities that can arise from Mad Apple closing. [It] was an incredible show to be a part of, and this is going to be a time in history I'll never forget."

Her husband still lives in Atlanta, giving her the option to stay in Las Vegas or move back. Having spent her career in the touring world, she's used to moving and rebuilding.

"The strength of an artist lies in their courage at the ending or the beginning of something new," she said. Honestly, truer words have never been spoken about working in the performing arts.

Mad Apple's final performances run until Saturday, Sept. 5. Tickets are still available through the New York-New York website up to that date. Anyone holding tickets for performances after Sept. 5 will be contacted directly about their purchases.

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