Josh Freed: Montreal comes to life with a sigh of relief (masked)

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Montréal’s are coming out of their pandemic trance, like a kingdom coming to life after a sorcerer’s spell.

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I have been in a fascinating position to see this magical moment last week, when I finished the first run of a play in which I perform with Terry Mosher and Bowser and Blue.

After the shows, I spoke to hundreds of people, often older mountaineers who had just cautiously emerged from their COVID caves. Many are so incredibly happy to come back to life that they choke on talking while I listen to them.

Most tell me this is the first time they have attended an indoor public event in two years. They often enter the theater nervously, as if looking for invisible germs. But once they see vaccine passports being checked and audience members masked, under Quebec law, their anxiety slowly evaporates and they enjoy being surrounded by happy human beings.

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The next thing they know, they are discovering that laughter can be almost as contagious as COVID-19. One woman said: “It was a big problem to get into the crowd and get used to being around people. But then I found myself relaxing, laughing, and feeling normal for the first time in so long. “

Another member of the audience told me: “At the end of the night, I felt joy, as if we were finally reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.”

I wish it was just our show getting people excited, but the crowd is partly excited just to be anywhere with others. During a performance, a recorded portion was mistakenly frozen for 10 minutes, but the audience of 200 continued to laugh, without complaint.

After the crash, even a frozen movie screen counts as main entertainment.

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Some people’s stories brought tears to my eyes as they described their utter loneliness and depression for the past 20 months. One woman told me how she held her breath on the sidewalk every time a corridor passed for more than a year.

Another recalled being so nervous that she raised her car window at every stoplight when another driver had his window down. Now both women were in a bustling theater, feeling joyous and comfortable reuniting with humanity.

These experiences are just a microcosm of life throughout Montreal as we go through a remarkable moment of healing as a city and perhaps as a nation.

Walking into a bistro on Notre-Dame St. last week, I was surprised and then delighted to be surrounded by about 100 diners, chatting with a jingling, cheerful enthusiasm I hadn’t heard since 2019.

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At another big event, I saw several people who knew each other clustered just a few feet apart, but did not recognize each other with masks. Then, in a moment of realization, one screamed:

“My God, Irwin!” Then another: “Sheila!” And a third: “Paul!” Then they all hugged, COVID-style, bumping fists, elbows or hips.

There are scenes like this happening all over the city. With karaoke allowed again, there’s not much you can’t legally do in public anymore, as long as you wear a mask, a vaccination passport, and clothing, not pajamas.

A jazz-loving friend in his 70s told me that he has been to three concerts in two weeks, after two years of pining for them. The sheer pleasure on his face when he said this was music to my ears. It feels like spring fever, in November.

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Meanwhile, the city center is getting busier. We are using the sidewalks of Ste-Catherine St. as normal again, crowding each other and pushing our arms around busy corners, without fear that a momentary rub on the shoulder will give us COVID.

Friends who work downtown tell me that happy hour is getting better, the subway is busier, and even the elevators in office buildings are filling up.

Some people are still being very cautious, usually Montreal seniors with underlying conditions. No one can decide for you when it is time to get out of your bunker or how much to relax your own demeanor.

I still don’t shake hands with anyone I don’t know well enough to be sure they are doubly vaccinated. But as more people tiptoe back into the world again, it’s beautiful to watch.

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A letter addressed to me and the Montreal Gazette this week was particularly moving. It was from Marilyn, an older woman who said she and her friends had been very active before the pandemic, eager to travel with a list of things they had planned.

But COVID changed that, he wrote. “We saw that people got sick. … We saw ourselves grow old much more than the number of years that passed. Now … we have to start living our lives.

“We will never be the same again and we know that the future is uncertain. But we have to do things that make us happy. Because if not now, when?

I believe that Marilyn is a symbol of an entire city that is valiantly trying to re-enter life. The evil spell of the COVID sorcerer is slowly disappearing. Like Dorothy on her journey, we are not out of Oz yet, but the rabbit hole that leads to the exit widens every day.

I’ve never been a karaoke guy, but I’m ready to sing.

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