He has been selling the show exuberantly — at a recent event for the news media, he pretended to have forgotten his prepared remarks, prompting an acrobat holding a sheaf of papers to tumble across the stage for a bit of circus humor. Then he framed the case for “Paramour”: “What we are trying to do here, and I think we’re doing well, is seamlessly blending the best of Broadway — singing, dancing, acting, of course — with all that is Cirque du Soleil’s signature artistry — incredible acrobatics, amazing costumes, cutting-edge technology, and sheer whimsy and joy.”

One day after the press event, Mr. Zeiger had to manage some tougher news. The company’s leaders, dissatisfied with what they saw during an early run-through of the show (a “lions’ den,” in Cirque lingo, comparing the executives to predatory carnivores), abruptly ousted the show’s leading man and said they wanted the running time cut by 10 percent, to get it under two hours.

“Paramour” is being developed by much of the same creative team, and features two of the most distinctive scenes (a rooftop chase with trampolines, and a live filmstrip with dancers in frames) as “Iris,” a $100 million homage to the history of cinema that Cirque hoped would become a permanent installation in Los Angeles but instead closed after 19 months. (Cirque productions cost more money than Broadway shows because they often involve newly built or reconfigured performance spaces; they take more time to develop because of the complex training required for risky acrobatic acts, and more money to run because of the larger troupes.)

Some fans worry the echoes of “Iris” mean they’ve seen this show before.

“On the one hand, those were cool acts, but, on the other hand, can’t you think up anything new?” said Keith Johnson, a Seattle-based Cirque fan and blogger who estimates that he has seen 20 Cirque shows. Mr. Johnson said he is concerned that “Paramour” may suffer from creation by committee, rather than by a single visionary, and that marketing it will be hard. “The image of their brand is so strong that, when they try to do anything radically different, it’s difficult for them to communicate what it’s about,” he said.