Stifled by rising production and labor costs, multidisciplinary performance halls are sounding the alarm and calling on the Legault government to increase its aid. Especially since these presenters, especially present in the regions, have always considered themselves to be underfunded compared to specialized performance halls.
“The idea is not to say that specialized broadcasters are too subsidized. What we are saying is that our business model, which is based on ticket sales, no longer works. The pressure on ticketing is too great. The context has changed and Quebec must take it into account,” summarizes in an interview with Duty Julie-Anne Richard, the general director of the RIDEAU association.
RIDEAU represents more than 170 presenters in Quebec, most of them owners of multidisciplinary venues, which can accommodate a comedian or a singer as well as a dance troupe. According to RIDEAU, the budget of multidisciplinary rooms currently depends 11.6% on subsidies from Quebec. However, when we take into account specialized broadcasters, such as theaters or concert halls, the average rises to 16.7%.
To make up for this delay, RIDEAU is asking Quebec to increase its various aid to multidisciplinary rooms by 7.7 million in its next budget. To cope with the explosion in costs since the pandemic, couldn’t multidisciplinary theaters have instead increased the price of their tickets?
“We are already feeling a small effect of inflation and rising interest rates on ticket sales. There are limits to what people are able to take as an increase. If we increase ticket prices, it will be even more difficult to sell tickets for shows by emerging artists,” argues Julie-Anne Richard.
No problems with ticket sales
It is reported that occupancy rates in multidisciplinary rooms have today roughly returned to their pre-pandemic levels. Good news which is mainly explained by the strong demand for established artists, such as Isabelle Boulay or Michel Rivard. This compensates for artists who are new to the profession, who have more difficulty filling theaters than before the pandemic.
“Last year was a record year for ticket sales. That’s really not the problem right now. The problem is rising structural costs. This is what brings us to the brink of breaking point,” says Alexandre Provencher, general director of Théâtre Desjardins.
Located in Montreal, in the LaSalle borough, this multidisciplinary room with just over 800 seats has seen its payroll jump by 52% since 2018. “Employees in the cultural sector were paid much less than elsewhere before. They were mainly there out of passion. But with the labor shortage today, we no longer have the choice of having salaries that are a bit higher than what we find elsewhere,” emphasizes Alexandre Provencher.
Added to this are the significant increases in fees for artists. In music particularly, well-known singers have considerably increased their prices, shows having become their main source of income with the virtual disappearance of records. Online listening, streaming, often bring only crumbs. Even Charlotte Cardin, who nevertheless has millions of listens on platforms, confided last Sunday to Everybody talks about itearning his living mainly through his concerts.
“Perfect Storm”
In theater too, the remuneration of actors has jumped in recent years. “Before the pandemic, when there was a fee of more than $15,000 for a theater show, we didn’t find that normal. Now all rooms, even the smallest ones, ask for at least $15,000. In addition, there is a lot of money that has been put into creation during COVID. It gives shows which are exceptional, but which are very technically loaded. That too, these are additional costs for us,” underlines the general director of Théâtre Desjardins.
“For two years, we have been heading towards the “perfect storm”, and here we are right in it,” adds Sophie Lemelin, general director of La Chapelle. This small multidisciplinary room in the Vanier district of Quebec has a very respectable occupancy rate of 86%, but that is not enough. Because of the explosion in structural costs, Mme Lemelin has planned a deficit budget for the year 2024.
Without an increase in subsidies, she knows she will have to make difficult choices. “We have always made it a point to present shows by emerging artists or shows in less accessible disciplines, such as storytelling. But, inevitably, I will not have the choice to reduce the number of these performances next year,” laments Sophie Lemelin.