MONTREAL — After paying for its $6-million renovation, Alvin Segal is challenging his fellow business people to now help support the annual cost of running the Segal Centre for Performing Arts at the Saidye.
Cutting the ribbon to officially launch the Segal Centre for Perrforming Arts at the Sayde recently are Simon Brault, president of Culture Montreal; Isabelle Hudon, president and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitain Montreal; Bryna Wasserman, artistic and executive director of the Segal Centre; Alvin Segal; Leanor Segal; Mayor Gerald Tremblay; Raymond Bachand, minister of tourism and of economic development, innovation and export trade.
At the centre’s official inauguration last week, Segal, chair of the men’s suit manufacturer Peerless Clothing and head of the centre’s board, said the facility is for all Montrealers and that he and wife Leanor “can’t do it all alone.”
The couple, who rescued the former Saidye Bronfman Centre (SBC) from possible closure two years ago, hosted a lavish reception and evening of entertainment to celebrate the completion of the centre’s overhaul and the beginning of its new season.
They used the occasion to gently remind those engaged in commerce that they have a responsibility to culture as well. Continued support from the three levels of government is also a must, Segal said.
“A thriving arts and culture milieu are proof that a community is alive and well and looking to the future,” he said.
Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay and Quebec culture minister Christine St. Pierre and economic development minister Raymond Bachand were among the speakers at the event.
The co-chairs were Isabelle Hudon, president and CEO of the Montreal Board of Trade, and Simon Brault, president of Culture Montreal and vice-chair of the Canada Council for the Arts. “Whenever I travel in Canada, I always hear about how the business community in Toronto is so ready to support the arts,” said Brault.
Hudon urged the guests to take the Segals as an example for cultural philanthropy.
Tremblay said all Montrealers can be proud of the revamped centre, which is creating bridges between communities and promoting an appreciation of the arts, especially among the young. Children exposed to the arts are less likely to drop out of school, get in trouble with law or take drugs, and studies have found they turn out to be more empathetic and civic-minded adults, he added.
He praised the Segals’ vision, generosity and inspiration to others.
“Leanor and Alvin Segal are so representative of a community whose contribution has been instrumental in shaping Montreal’s identity,” he said.
Artistic and executive director Bryna Wasserman said the centre is not only nurturing the next generation of artists, but also the next generation of audiences for the arts.
“The Segals understand that, in the arts, there are no borders to guard, just bridges to cross,” she said. “They have blazed a trail that allows those of us working in the arts and culture to dream big.”
The renovation ultimately cost double the amount announced in June 2007 and took longer to finish than originally planned.
The centre’s lobby was reconfigured and updated and is now a much more inviting area, spacious and soothingly lit with high-tech screens announcing events and a proper reception desk. Other changes were the creation of a second performance space, in addition to the main Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre, where the art gallery used to be; facilities for the new performing arts academy for children and teens; and the addition of a small screening room and a lounge with a bar on the lower level where the fine arts school was.
All that remains to be done in the public areas is to take delivery of furniture for the lobby and downstairs lounge so users will have a place to sit.
Segal had the honour of cutting the ribbon using scissors, it was said, he once used as an apprentice cutter of clothing.
That evening had the feel of a Broadway opening. The outdoor steps of the centre were red-carpeted and canopied-covered. Guests were greeted by colourfully costumed women.
Inside, jugglers and stilt-walkers added to the circus atmosphere. A Dixieland jazz band played, and later a troupe of young swing dancers, reminiscent of the World War II era, put on an energetic show.
Among the guests was longtime Bronfman family intimate, retired senator Leo Kolber. The SBC, which opened in 1967, was a gift to the community by the Bronfman family. After years of losing money and, in the view of some community leaders, losing its relevance, the centre’s future was in serious doubt by 2005.
The Segals, longtime supporters of the SBC’s Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, stepped in and became the centre’s principal benefactors, replacing the Bronfmans, and active volunteers in its operation.
In late 2006, it was announced that the SBC would no longer be a branch of the YM-YWHA and would become a direct agency of FEDERATION CJA. The controversial decision was made to focus solely on the performing arts, dropping the visual arts. Its new patrons promised expanded programming and educational activities, especially for youth. Emerging artists were to find a home at the centre and a greater effort was to made to reach the Montreal community at large.
In June 2007, the SBC became the Segal Centre for Performing Arts at the Saidye and work on the physical makeover began that summer.
This year, the centre received a $475,000 federal grant through the Public Works department. But an operating grant from the Canada Council continues to elude the centre after almost a decade of applications.
David Moss, who was executive director of the SBC from 1994-2003, returned last year to manage the Segal, after directing the Opéra de Montréal. Moss said that after helping the Segal get off the ground, he is now pursuing other interests.