La Tulipe, What a Shame!

Early in my career, I interviewed Gilles Latulippe at his office in the Théâtre des Variétés, then the temple par excellence of burlesque and popular comedy. I didn’t have much to do with Manda Parent and Juliette Pétry, but I was very impressed by the history of the place and, above all, by the intelligence of Gilles Latulippe, who gave me an excellent interview.

For more than a century, this amphitheater has not been the object of any disapproval – quite the contrary. Only one person complained vigorously about its practices and its role in the community. And that complaint led to the amphitheatre’s closure, because a judge ruled with a rigorous interpretation of the noise bylaw, while excluding the context of the now-famous complaint.

What a disgrace. A shameless developer obtains a building permit, granted by an official who’s totally out of his depth. The developer transforms the building into a rental (not commercial) property and then complains about the noise once his work is completed and occupied by human beings who obviously didn’t realize the context in which they are now immersed.

“Monday’s ruling by the Court of Appeal partially vindicates the plaintiff, Pierre-Yves Beaudoin, owner of La Tulipe’s neighboring building on Papineau Street, who has been complaining about noise since he purchased the building in 2016. Mr. Beaudoin had filed a request for an injunction to this effect in December 2020,” reports Isabelle Ducas in La Presse.

“Partially right” virtually means that this ruling limits La Tulipe to relatively quiet performances on stage, which is totally absurd for such an amphitheater steeped in history, an authentic monument to our popular culture. La Tribu, the company that brought La Tulipe back to life after buying the Théâtre des Variétés, is thus forced to cease its activities, as they are likely to come to an end far too soon in the context of showbizz as we know it in 2024. Exclusive chamber music and acoustic folk??? Of course. Nonsense.

Shame on Pierre-Yves Beaudoin, who couldn’t see beyond his nose and his wallet. Shame on the civil servant who slept on gas. Shame on the judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal who clearly failed to consider the bureaucratic error that caused the disappearance of an institution in favor of a visionless entrepreneur, who will go down in Montreal history as a true destroyer of heritage.

But… why didn’t the city rectify the situation as soon as it found out? Perhaps there was a catch: “If this were vaudeville as it was in Gilles Latulippe’s day, there would be noise, fury, overturned chairs and at 10pm, it’s closed. Here, it lasts until 3 a.m. and it’s sound in the carpet,” said host Luc Ferrandez on 98.5, considering that the amphitheater had become a ‘discotheque’ in most of his interventions. Did the former mayor of the borough (where La Tulipe is located) express the views of current officials, including the one who authorized developer Pierre-Yves Beaudoin’s construction? Let’s not prejudge, but…

In any case, the “discotheque” had been like that for many years, and neighborhood disapproval was almost non-existent, simply because no one slept nearby.

Can the dramatic consequences of this lamentable bureaucratic error be rectified? Is a turnaround possible? That’s what we’ll be seeing in the near future. Beyond emergency meetings, borough mayor Luc Rabouin must put on his britches and force the occupants of the new building adjacent to La Tulipe to endure the sound and assume the consequences of their nearby occupation.

Will they have to comply with new noise regulations? Will they sue the city if they do? It’s hard to say. One thing is certain: a by-law protecting the assets of Montreal’s concert halls is absolutely essential, given the legal limbo that has led us into this mess.