Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group and Outrigger Hospitality Group have some high- flying news: They’ve entered into a joint venture that will add Hawaii next year to Cirque’s shortlist of destinations with shows in residence.

Eric Grilly, Cirque du Soleil president of resident and affiliate shows, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday that an exclusive Hawaii- themed show is under development and will make its home in the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel showroom as part of a multiyear partnership.

“Next year Cirque celebrates its 40th anniversary, and I think it’s very appropriate that we’ll be celebrating that 40th with the opening of this show here in Hawaii,” Grilly said.

Grilly said the quest to bring Cirque to Hawaii predates him and was affected by the pandemic. However, he said conversations with Outrigger began in earnest about two years ago and resulted in a “meeting of the minds” and “a beautiful showroom.”

Grilly and Jeff Wagoner, president and CEO of Outrigger Hospitality Group, declined to put a dollar figure on their joint investment; however, they characterized it as “substantial.”

Wagoner said the permitting process is underway to build a state- of-the-art audiovisual system and retool the show’s 20,000-square-foot venue, which formerly housed the long-running “Magic of Polynesia.” Cirque’s show, which will open in an 800-seat theatre, is expected to debut in December 2024.

“It’s an exciting time for us. The Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber is on the 50-yard line in Waikiki. It’s on the most prominent avenue in Honolulu and in our beach community, and is just such an amazing location for a world-class show like Cirque,” he said.

Wagoner said the build-out and reopening of the venue will bring new jobs to Hawaii, as well as trickle- down economic impacts. He said each show has the potential to draw 800 attendees, who might seek to shop or eat nearby.

He said he and city and state officials have been talking for some time about how to “find an opportunity for our visitors to find new things to do, to create world-class entertainment and to be able to create additional elements for our consumers to spend in our communities,” Wagoner said. “This is the largest investment that we have made in Hawaii related to entertainment. I believe that this will be one of the largest showrooms in Waikiki.”

Native Hawaiian Aaron J. Sala, who earned his doctorate in ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaii, has been retained as the project’s creative cultural producer and will consult in creating the show, which will meld Cirque’s acrobatics and innovation with the natural beauty and unique culture of the islands.

“I think the fact that we have really one of the strongest hotel brands in Hawaii partnering with one of the strongest brands of entertainment in the world is an incredible feat,” Sala said.

Outrigger, a 75-year-old company that started in Waikiki, conducts hospitality business in Hawaii, Thailand, Fiji, Mauritius and the Mal­dives. Outrigger is known for putting the host culture at the forefront of its hospitality model, which seeks to promote local experiences through partnerships, preserve the local culture and protect natural resources.

Cirque du Soleil has about 4,000 employees of 80 nationalities who contribute to 31 shows presented around the world and 9.5 million tickets sold annually. Grilly said it’s not known how many jobs the Hawaii show will add but said it would be significant.

Sala said showrooms once dominated the Waikiki landscape and added hundreds of jobs. However, he said a partnership of this caliber is “unprecedented in recent years in Waikiki.”

He said the heyday of Waikiki showrooms was begun by “Hawaii Calls,” which was a live show in Hawaii but broadcast the sounds of the islands from 1935 to 1975 to more than 700 radio stations. He said by gathering the best performers, “Hawaii Calls’” Webley Edwards provided a pathway for entertainers like Alfred Apaka to take over the Hilton and others to fill Waikiki showrooms.

“You could start at one end of Kalakaua Avenue at 8 p.m. and just watch show after show and end up at the Queen’s Surf at 2 a.m. to watch Mahi Beamer close out the evening,” Sala said. “Hawaii became a hub for performing artists.”

He said “Puka Puka Otea,” a popular Polynesian show, came to Waikiki in the 1960s, ushering in the modern-day Polynesian reviews, which prepared the way for Tihati Productions and shows such as what the Polynesian Cultural Center offers.

Sala said in his research for his doctoral dissertation, he came across an anecdote indicating that Cirque du Soleil also has Hawaii roots. He said he heard that Cirque’s founder Guy Laliberte, a circus performer, was inspired by watching people in Waikiki and wondered to himself what it would be like to watch a circus of people accomplishing incredible physical feats rather than watching animals. Sala said the “Soleil” part of the name was inspired by a sunset in Kona, where Laliberte has a home.

“In many ways Cirque is coming home to Hawaii,” he said.

Sala said it’s early days yet, but his team is exploring themes for the Hawaii show that encompass the stories of Hawaii, Oahu, Waikiki and Kaluaokau, the parcel of land where the Waikiki Beachcomber sits, which is part of Queen Emma’s trust.

He said he is excited to combine the power of Hawaiian storytelling with the power of Cirque, “which challenges human beings to do things that are physically impossible with their bodies.”

He said Hawaii doesn’t have a history of acrobatics in the traditional sense, but people have excelled in daring pursuits such as cliff diving and holua sledding, a type of ground sledding with a narrow sled on often rocky slopes. He said Hawaii also excels in the performing arts, an expression of culture.

Grilly said Simon Painter and Neil Dorward, the creators of “Mad Apple,” which opened in 2022 on the Las Vegas Strip in New York-New York Hotel &Casino, worked to make that show representative of New York’s eclectic nightlife and will work with Sala and other Hawaiian musicians, performers and cultural advisers to make a show that aligns “with the cultural elements of Hawaii.”

“I think ‘Mad Apple’ was very unique for us in the fact that it was the first time that a comedic headliner was featured and the fact that we featured mainstream music in a Cirque show,” he said. “Where ‘Mad Apple’ was groundbreaking for us in terms of the variety aspects, Hawaii will be that as well in a way that will resonate in honor of the community here.”

Grilly said “Mad Apple” brought the count of Las Vegas’ Cirque-branded shows in residence to six. People in Hawaii might be familiar with Cirque through those shows as well as traveling shows that came to Honolulu in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Cirque also has one show in residence in Orlando, Fla., and another at Riviera Maya on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where the show has some elements of Mexico but is more broadly themed than “Mad Apple” or the show in Hawaii will be.

Grilly said “Mad Apple” is the first Cirque-branded show to open since Cirque’s reorganization. Cirque experienced severe disruptions in the earlier part of the pandemic.

He said “Echo,” a big-top touring show that is expected to open in Montreal in two weeks, also is part of Cirque’s relaunch along with 2024’s opening of the Hawaii show, which doesn’t have a name yet. Grilly said a few smaller shows might open as well but that “Echo” and the Hawaii show are the only multiyear productions with openings planned over the next few years.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi joined Cirque and Outrigger executives to make the announcement, which took place Monday evening during a celebration to mark the 15th anniversary of the Kani Ka Pila Grille at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort. The Kani Ka Pila Grille, which offers nightly Hawaiian music, is an example of Outrigger’s commitment to supporting the culture of the places where it does business.

Blangiardi recalled the days when Waikiki was filled with great entertainment. He enthusiastically looked to the addition of a new world-class show, which he said will benefit the economy by creating jobs through the redevelopment of the theater space and ongoing show operations.

“It will really be very special for Hawaii because it will celebrate our culture,” Blangiardi said. “To have Cirque du Soleil coming in the way they are going to come with the investment that Outrigger has made for our city, for this place and for our future — it doesn’t get any better.”

Cirque du Soleil is not Outrigger’s first major entertainment investment in Waikiki, where the chain was launched.

Sean P. Dee, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Outrigger Hospitality Group, who took the lead for Outrigger in keeping the Cirque deal moving despite the pandemic, noted that the Kani Ka Pila Grille is “a celebration of our commitment to culture and music,” and said the venue has hosted more than 5,000 Hawaiian music shows since its opening in 2008.

In 2015 the Blue Note opened in Hawaii at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. More than $3.5 million was spent renovating the former Society of Seven Showroom at the Outrigger Waikiki, turning the 9,000-square-foot space into a state-of-the-art performance venue.