Coming back strong
Montreal performing arts groups emerge energized from live performance lockdown
Opening night excitement hit new heights for the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal earlier this month. The orchestra’s new music director, Rafael Payare, took the podium at the Maison symphonique for the first time, kicking off a round of events in celebration of the hall’s 10th anniversary.
It was the start of something big, the comeback of Montreal’s performing arts scene, says Mariejosée Desrochers, president and CEO of Place des Arts, the city’s major venue complex.
“Unlike last year, the OSM plus our two resident companies, Opéra de Montréal and Les Grands ballets canadiens de Montréal, have announced seasons that extend well into 2022,” she said. “So has the Orchestre Métropolitain, and the Danse Danse modern dance series will return to Théâtre Maisonneuve.”
Expect to see more full-scale productions in the coming season, too, Desrochers says. PDA’S most spacious performance hall, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, has reopened. And, because it has four separate entrances, now can accommodate more people while complying with current safety regulations. That means that 2,000 of its 2,982 seats can now be filled.
PDA’S five smaller theatres are also booking up, and its three on-site restaurants have opened. Outside its doors, L’art en soi Festival transforms the Esplanade into an open-air dance floor until Sept. 26. In the indoor exhibition space, art lovers have until Dec. 6 to experience the virtual-reality work Asteria, a co-production with the Centre Phi.
For many people, the word “grand” always precedes opera, and with good reason. The art form involves not only vocal artistry and drama, but a full orchestra and sometimes ballet. There may be up to 250 people involved onstage, in the pit and keeping everything running backstage.
“We developed a big online following during the pandemic, which was new for us,” said Patrick Corrigan, Opéra de Montréal’s general director. “But we are beyond excited that conditions now permit us to get back to live performances.”
It takes time to get all the many elements in place for big productions, though. So audiences will have to wait until January for the company’s renditions of Verdi’s La Traviata and Mozart’s The Magic Flute to appear on the stage at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier.
A smaller-scale production kicks off the season on Sept. 25, an innovative double bill of Riders to the Sea and Le flambeau de la nuit, in collaboration with Ballet-opéra-pantomime and I Musici de Montréal chamber orchestra. An original opera is also on the bill for next spring. And you can expect to see more productions broadcast live or streamed online.
“We began developing new operas during lockdown as a way to keep our artists working,” Corrigan said. “It’s taken us on a new and exciting path, and you can expect to see more original works in the future.”
Feelings are running high at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, too. Rehearsals are underway for the Oct. 24 opening, a performance of Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Mcmillan with Johnny Donahoe.
“This show is simply beautiful,” the Segal’s artistic and executive director Lisa Rubin said, “and reminds us of how powerful the theatre is and why we should be coming back.”
A full season of plays and special events lies ahead, including the musicals that draw so many to the Segal. For pure fun, there is Superdogs: The Musical in the fall. On a more serious note, a Black Theatre Workshop world premiere of a hip hop musical, Black and Blue Matters, is slated for 2022, followed by a rock cabaret titled One Night in April.
Conspicuously absent will be the chances to mingle in the lobby. For the time being, the bar will remain closed and other measures enforced to ensure social distancing. But audience members will get to safely interact more during performances, Rubin says. This might be as simple as being asked to clap along, send in a vote via smartphone or read lines from a handout.
“It’s all about engagement. Just sitting in a dark room with other audience members still is a powerful experience,” she said. “But the performance becomes that much more live when you have the chance to express yourself.”
Performing artists are also eager to return to the stage. For ballet dancers, the pandemic restrictions have made it difficult to maintain the high level of physical conditioning their art demands. Dancers employed by big companies typically put in eight hours or more a day of classes and rehearsals.
But dancers with BJM-LES Ballets Jazz de Montréal are adapting and enjoying a new burst of creativity, says its artistic director, Alexandra Damiani.
“I used to tell my injured dancers to use the frustration at not being able to dance as fuel,” says the dancer, choreographer and multidisciplinary artist. “’You will dance with so much fire later,’ I’d say. So, coming back from the pandemic, we all burn like never before to do what we love and share it with audiences again.”
To showcase this passion, BJM will kick off its 50th season with Vanishing Melodies. This original work is set to a medley of songs by Montreal singer and musician Patrick Watson. Dance, theatre, song, music and video combine to create an impressionistic tableau choreographed by Anne Plamondon and Juliano Nunes and directed by Eric Jean.
Opening night is set for Nov. 2 at Théâtre Maisonneuve for six performances as part of the Danse Danse series. The company then heads off for a month-long tour of France and Switzerland. At the back of everyone’s mind, of course, is the possibility that a fourth wave of the pandemic might force some cancellations.
“We hope not but are prepared,” she said. “Over the pandemic, everyone associated with the show — dancers, choreographers, videographers, musicians — learned to be flexible and adaptable. In a way we’re all growing through this.”
At Place des Arts, Desrochers and her team keep on top of the latest Covid-related protocols and aim to make them easy to understand and follow for theatregoers. It’s all in the name of making it as safe and comfortable as possible for audiences to return.
“We need the performing arts in our lives,” Desrochers said. “And a live performance, the exchange between audience and artists, is a special experience like no other. The 2021-22 season marks a new beginning for us all.”