In the aftermath of the government announcements on the adoption of new health measures, several players in the cultural sector prefer to postpone or even cancel shows, rather than halving the number of spectators present, as required by Public Health from Monday. .
The wave of postponements also began on Friday, three days before the measures came into force. Safia Nolin has postponed her show scheduled for Friday at Les Foufounes Électrique for the launch of her new album, Seum. “With the significant increase in cases, I was not comfortable with the idea of bringing together hundreds of people in a performance hall tonight,” the singer said on social networks.
The record company La Tribu has also chosen to postpone the Cowboys Fringants show to June 4, 2022, which was to be held on December 18 at MTelus. The group’s shows scheduled at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on December 29 and 30 are also postponed to March 4 and 5.
The Cowboys Fringants are also scheduled to take the stage at the Bell Center on December 27th. The Tribe told Press that no decision had yet been taken regarding this concert. It would be surprising, however, to see the festive Cowboys perform in a half-full amphitheater. The musicians have previously said in an interview with Press that it was necessary “of the world standing, who can move and drink a beer”, otherwise “this is not a Cowboys show”.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Louis-José Houde’s solo show at the Lion d’Or has been postponed until the spring.
As for the shows by Louis-José Houde which were to take place at the Lion d’Or, in Montreal, on December 20 and 21, they were postponed to the 1er and March 2.
Insoluble puzzle
At Duceppe, we also chose to move the three performances of the play to a later date. I like Hydro, scheduled at the Théâtre Maisonneuve in early January. “There were too many tickets that exceeded the 50% allowed, too many people to relocate,” explains the general manager of the company, Amélie Duceppe.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
I like Hydro, led by Christine Beaulieu, which was to be presented in early January at Duceppe, will be postponed.
It would have been necessary to choose who could attend the shows or not, to offer refunds to compensate for the changes in seat categories… It would have been a huge job for my team, which is already at the end of its rope.
Amélie Duceppe, Managing Director of Duceppe
“Now, we are looking for new dates for this show, but it is not easy, because the venues at Place des Arts book well in advance,” says Amélie Duceppe. She adds that reorganization work will also have to be done after the holidays for the play. News room, which premieres on January 12. Until then, ticket sales are suspended.
Same observation on the side of Productions Martin Leclerc: reducing the audience level by 50% is an almost insoluble problem. Thus, three performances of the show Christmas, a tradition in song had to be canceled altogether. They are those of Brossard, Laval and Saint-Jérôme. “For the broadcasters, it was easier to cancel the shows than to cut the number of spectators in half,” explains Martin Leclerc. That would have caused too much trouble at the ticket office. And since this is a Christmas show, it could hardly be postponed. ”
“Anyway,” he continues, “since Thursday’s announcements, broadcasters have received a lot of calls from people who want to be reimbursed, because they are afraid to attend a show. The producer also decided to postpone winter performances of the show. For a one-night stand. Ditto for the concert of Yves Duteil, which was to travel across Quebec from March. “We made this decision for security reasons. We do not want to announce a postponement at the last minute. ”
PHOTO FRANÇOIS LAPLANTE DELAGRAVE, PROVIDED BY LE CURTAIN VERT
2021 revised and corrected, which notably stars Véronique Claveau and Joëlle Lanctôt, will be presented as planned until the end of December, but the “extra” spectators will be moved to another date in January.
At the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, however, we decided to tackle the problem head on and call one by one the ticket holders who have expressed a desire to attend the show. 2021 revised and corrected. “We will contact each spectator respecting the purchase order, from the first buyers to the last, to offer them new seats”, explains Alice Côté Dupuis, press officer and marketing manager at Rideau Vert. “If there are too many people for some shows, we can relocate spectators to another date in January. We had already planned three more that had not been announced; they will be used to welcome those who could not see the show as planned in December. ”
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Charlotte Cardin’s series of shows at MTelus is uncertain. No decision has yet been made on whether the performances will take place with reduced gauges.
On Friday evening, there was still doubt about the fate of several other shows during the holiday season or at the start of January. Les Grands Ballets announced on Friday the cancellation of performances by Nutcracker until December 19 because of seven cases of COVID-19 within the team. And after ? Ticket holders will be contacted shortly, it is said. Regarding the Charlotte Cardin shows scheduled for early January at MTelus, the puzzle involves performances outside Quebec, which complicates the decisions to be made. Nothing is decided yet either on the side of the party by Éric Lapointe, on December 31, at MTelus.
Less variety on screens
As for cinema owners, the measures imposed by the Legault government will force a major reorganization of programming, according to Vincent Guzzo, president and CEO of Guzzo cinemas. “The impact will not be so much in terms of financial losses or goodwill, but more in terms of the variety of films that will be presented. ”
For example, some movies like Aline Where House of Gucci are going out of the lineup to free up more screens for big popular movies like Spiderman, Matrix Where The king’s man.
Vincent Guzzo, President and CEO of Guzzo Cinemas
Like Vincent Guzzo, Denis Hurtubise, president of the Association of Quebec Cinemas Owners, fears that these new measures will further erode customer confidence. “There were no outbreaks in theaters. We follow a very strict protocol. But I fear that we will still have difficulty convincing people to come back with these new measures. ”
Regarding museums and libraries, the status quo is maintained for the moment. As for art galleries, like all other businesses, they must reduce their attendance by 50%, taking into account the surface area of the premises. A distance of 2 m must be respected at all times.