Is it still acceptable, in 2024, for renowned performance halls to seat men and women separately in certain sections during events? This is what Patrick Levy, the owner of the Olympia in Montreal, believes, where spectators will be separated on the balcony during the concert. Our Andalusian roots this Sunday.
“When people rent the room, they have the right to choose and do what they want,” explains the owner of the establishment on Sainte-Catherine Street East Montreal, Patrick Levy, contacted by The newspaper.
In its performance hall, several important names in song and humor from here and elsewhere have performed over the years, including Gilles Vigneault, Tori Amos, Daniel Bélanger, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jack White, Louis- José Houde and Sugar Sammy. The French singer Christophe Maé is moving there to present his concert Travelogue tonight, Friday and Saturday evening.
On the other end of the line, Mr. Levy first declared that he was not aware of everything that was happening in his own theater. He then added that the May 26 show was a private event organized by La Communauté Sépharade Unisés du Québec as part of the 2024 Montreal Sepharad Festival.
Yet, although Our Andalusian roots – a concert by the Montreal Andalusian Symphony Orchestra conducted by the conductor of Jerusalem Orchestra East WestTom Cohen – is not announced on the official website of L’Olympia de Montréal, it is possible for the general public to obtain tickets online from the websites of the Unified Sephardic Community of Quebec and the Sepharad Festival of Montreal 2024.
“This celebration of Andalusian culture promises to be a magical moment, full of discoveries, pleasure and sharing,” we can read in the description of the evening.
A religious question
Patrick Lévy says he understands that the separation of men and women is a religious issue, ranging from the comparison with the synagogue where women have a differentiated and distanced place from men in the Jewish religion.
The Montreal Olympia is the only performance hall to offer tickets dividing men from women as part of the Montreal Sepharad Festival.
Contacted by The newspaper, the Unified Sephardic Community of Quebec explained that the seats in the pit were mixed and that the seats separated by sex in the balcony were dedicated “to more religious spectators”.
