Cirque du Soleil Will Be Using New Ticket Service

Cirque du Soleil will return to the Santa Monica Pier this fall with a new production, a new artistic director, a new composer, a new set, a new seating plan (chairs instead of benches) and . . . a new ticket service.

The popular Canadian circus announced Wednesday that it is the first client of Admission Network USA, a La Jolla-based company that aspires to grow into a competitor of Ticketmaster, the monolithic ticket giant.

Co-owned by Cirque du Soleil and Concept Electronique Microflex, a software firm based in Quebec City, Admission Network USA is a U.S. affiliate of Admission Network, which provides ticketing services to several Montreal-based attractions, including the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens and Major League Baseball’s Montreal Expos.

Cirque du Soleil no longer will sell tickets through Ticketmaster.

Jean David, vice president of marketing and communications for Cirque, said his company had a good relationship with Ticketmaster “but we think the service we’re going to have through Admission is going to be better.”

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Admission Network’s service charge will be $3.75 per ticket for phone orders and $3.50 for tickets sold at outlets. That’s less expensive than Ticketmaster, David said, although a Ticketmaster spokesman said its service charge for Cirque previously was comparable.

Others have attempted to offer an alternative service to Ticketmaster but have failed because the national company has exclusive contracts with many of the major performing venues.

Of Admission Network, a Ticketmaster spokesman said, “We’ve always maintained that it’s a competitive industry and we welcome them to the marketplace.”

Cirque’s new production, “Quidam,” will come to Santa Monica (starting Sept. 25) and Costa Mesa (starting Jan. 29). Tickets will go on sale Sunday at 20 Admission outlets in Southern California, all but six of which are Tempo Music and Video stores, and by phone through an 800 number.

“In any market where there’s one company with a majority of the market, there’s room for a company that’s either after a certain niche of business or coming in with a strategy to make its mark,” said Keith Kelly, general manager of Admission Network USA. “Our focus is going to be in two areas: providing satisfaction and value for the customer, and providing flexibility for the venues themselves. . . .

“I think there’s room for us to grow pretty dramatically and pretty solidly on that basis.”